Stop Move to Ban Gay/Lesbian Literature in Solon, Iowa, Schools
by Sue Protheroe, Solon Middle School teacher
Meeting:
Materials Reconsideration Committee
Tuesday, October 26, 7pm
Solon High School Media Center
Solon, Iowa
I am the
8th grade language arts teacher at Solon Middle School. Those of
you who have children in my classroom know that it is a place where
students are free to develop and express personal opinions, without
fear of recrimination. My message has always been one of respect,
tolerance, and acceptance. And what better vehicle for discussion
than literature?
Stories
containing gay/lesbian characters are periodically part of my
curriculum, and I am grateful to those of you who have read the stories
yourselves and used them as vehicles for discussion at home. When
I teach these stories, I generally have a small number of parents ask
that their children be excused from the pieces, and I honor these
requests. This year, however, there is a group of parents
requesting that the stories be removed from the curriculum altogether,
which would mean that all of my students would lose the opportunity to
read and discuss them.
I object
passionately to the censorship of the literature that Solon students
read, especially when the censoring group identifies a specific
population and asks for removal of that population from the texts used
in the classroom.
One of
the messages in the story “Am I Blue?” is that “there are gay cops and
gay farmers, gay teachers and gay soldiers, gay parents and gay
kids.” By acknowledging this fact frankly, in a controlled
classroom setting, we are educating to encourage tolerance and to end
discrimination against a group of our students.
If the news that this is happening alarms – or even just interests – you, I encourage you to attend the meeting of the Materials Reconsideration Committee, October 26, 7pm, in the Solon High School Media Center, Solon, Iowa.
Sue Protheroe
Solon Middle School teacher
Blog For Iowa 