Wanted: GLBT Advocates in the Texas S.B.O.E.

When I read Mr. Levinson’s commentary on Texas’ education system, I found it to be a very effective commentary, for the most part. Mr. Levinson discusses the TAKS test and presents a well-rooted opinion as to what the true nature of school everywhere should be: it should be functioning for the purpose of “teach[ing] students how to apply learned knowledge, and experience to develop opinions and appropriate actions, based on educated and experienced hypotheses.” It should not be about preparation for a test. It should not be swayed by partisanship or political agendas. However, in Texas, as Mr. Levinson points out, our education board is politically reared, and driven. He expresses the need to pay our teachers better, and to create and “overhaul” of the Texas education system. Though I agreed with most of what Mr. Levinson expresses, as a lesbian, I am a little insulted by one sentence of his opinion: “A conservative republican, or liberal democrat, should not be elected based on their stance on gay rights.” This is an easy thing to say, unless you are gay and living in this infantile country.
In my own commentary, I discuss the fact that a homosexual child is 50% more likely to be harassed, beaten, and, for lack of a better word, made an outcast. I would love to see more people in all elected positions who have a positive view of homosexuality and lesbianism, than the usual negative, biblical hatred that is currently spewed out from most of the politicians in this state. It is a question of human rights, safety and understanding. If there were more people on our state board of education who were gay advocates, perhaps they could make changes in schools pertaining to how our gay youth is treated.
Just recently, a fifteen year old boy, who was constantly harassed in school for being gay and a cross-dresser, was murdered by a school mate. Is this not something that should also be addressed by people on the board of education? Perhaps, parents and teachers should address these issues as well. I believe it should be addressed by everyone, but I am one of those outcasts. My opinion tends to differ from the many. Unfortunately, schools are stewing and brewing in politics: whether we like it or not. Politics is swaddled in ideology, religious dogma, and personal agenda. So are schools. It is the true hidden nature of politics and, let’s face it, schools too. Though I agree that politics may have no place in school, I do not think it is practical to dismiss all politics from the education system. Even children in small circles discuss politics of varying degrees.
This, for me, is where the “gay” issue comes in. This is why I believe a person cannot easily dismiss someone who is pro-gay. It is needed for all those youths who have no voice. A change is just around the corner, I hope. In the meantime, how can we help the GLBT minority of this country be safe? Ho do we help them to thrive? How can we empower them to be fully human in a country that dismisses their (my) humanness by “turning the other cheek” on such real and personal issues? Perhaps, baby steps like having a person on the TSBOE, is a good start for our incremental system.
Mr. Levinson is, in my opinion, correct: education “is not an expense, but an investment.” What are we teaching our children in schools when we allow such “politics,” (such as: a gay classmate should be disciplined by other classmates because they are gay) in our schools? I myself grew up experiencing major bigotry and hatred from classmates, and even employers, because of my sexual orientation: as if what I did in the bedroom has anything to do with my intellect or work ethics. We do need to rethink our education system. However, let us not toss out those things that are most innate and deserve our attention just because they seem too controversial to solve. One should not devalue and erase things of such levity, which seep into all aspects of life for many, just because it does not affect them personally. It affects [your] fellow human beings. That is more than enough of a reason.

Texas says, "Gay couple cannot get divorced"

Don’t you just love how a law can override just about anything? Even if the law is completely wrong—without justice, morals, freedom and truth? It sure makes me feel wonderful to be an American citizen, especially since I can get married in only a handful of states. Oh, yeah, and I can’t get a divorce if I want to in Texas! Gee, I sure feel a sense of freedom. This freedom, of course, could never be tainted and twisted in such a light to appear as fairness, even though it is nearly equal in levity as the Jim Crow laws that came to a head in the mid 1960’s.
Though gays may not suffer many things that blacks once suffered under American law, one thing is still obvious to the GLBT community and its supporters: we are ridiculed or worse if we show affection to one another in public. We cannot get married. We are not recognized as first-class citizens. We are often accused of unwarranted perverseness. We are preached about by many ministers, pastors, and the like, as evil, a sin, an abomination, and many other appalling words. We have quaint words that are thrown around, and easily accepted by many as normal: faggot, dyke, fudge-packer, and others that are too crude to mention. We are very mistreated by our own countrymen. I would love everyone to read this articled embedded here. It is about a recent murder of a fifteen year old who knew who he was, and was killed for expressing himself. Read down to the bottom and you’ll see the actual percent of how much more likely a GLBT student is harassed than a “straight” student: 50%. WAKE UP AMERICA! THIS IS BIGOTRY AND PREJUDICE!
According to recent events, dually noted by the Associated Press and the Austin American Statesman, a lesbian couple who were married in Massachusetts was able to get a divorce in Texas, though it is against the legal ban on such issues. Just a few months after, a gay couple wanted to do the same thing. However, they had a different judge who wasn’t from Austin like the judge for the lesbian couple’s hearing. This judge claims that “the parties lack standing to file a divorce case because they are not married” (qtd. in the AP). Hmmmm, I’m thinking that they are married and that Texas has a big fat stick up its “you know what” because it has yet to grow beyond the Dark Ages. The U.S. constitution (under full faith and credit clause) overrides Texas’s law, people! If something is valid in one state, it must be recognized in other states! Really, I don’t think I can say enough about this. I am tired of living in a country that resists growing beyond infancy. I am more than exhausted by this country’s inability to take responsibility for its lack of understanding. In other words, there are too many ignorant people who do not see how treating the GLBT community this way is exactly how we have treated blacks, women, and countless other minorities in the past. This is just simple truth.
There is no difference from Americans once saying that blacks were marked by the devil and that the Bible said they are evil and must be punished, to saying that the Bible says that gays are a sin and do not deserve to be equal citizens because they are not equal under the “god of the Bible.” It is all a cudgel as it has been countless times in the past. Beyond the Bible’s function as a cudgel for hatred, racism, and bigotry, it is a deeply false and hurtful claim that the church has made. How can we still promote, and even suckle from these old ideas and ignorant statements? They do not work!
Once upon a time, other religions were evil according to the Catholic and Protestant Churches, and many others. We’ll use them as an example. Because these other “sacrilegious” faiths were so evil, all the “heretics” involved with them had to be destroyed. St. Patrick was not shooing actual snakes out of Ireland. He was destroying the Irish peoples’ holy sites and aggressively spouting his own ideas of divinity. He even forced several people to get baptized into his religion, which they obviously did not believe in. Must I even mention the Inquisition? I’m talking about all the tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of lives that were destroyed because of some hot-headed Popes and leaders who thought that torturing and murdering entire cultures would get people to convert to Catholicism. Come on, folks! Wake up and see the evil in those acts! Wake up and see the narrow-minded, destructive, separatist thoughts in those overplayed records! Wake up and see that this same cycle of ignorance, hate and violence is being perpetuated today, here, in Texas and all across America! Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered: they are all people too. Stop accepting the bigotry and prejudice and start seeing the truth. There are so many other countries that are way ahead of America with this, and many other issues. Unfortunately, that’s another blog.
If two people get married and are legally married in one state, this should be recognized in EVERY state. Therefore, if they want to get a divorce, they should be able to get a divorce legally in EVERY state. Not a void, but a divorce. They are married and that is how a marriage is ended people! This kind of divide and prejudice is causing more strife and harm than it is good. We will never be the “land of the free” if we continue down such paths of ignorance, hatred and inequality—never.

Computers Instead of Books?

In Rahil’s commentary, titled “Perry Getting Smarter,” Rahil writes about Perry’s attempts to “replace textbooks with on-line resources” (Rahil). Rahil seems well informed, and expresses his opinion with passion. Rahil believes that students will benefit greatly from having on-line resources instead of books. Though Rahil has an excellent opinion and decent credibility, I believe there are many aspects on this topic that he is not taking into consideration. There is only so much on a computer that can be recycled. The parts that cannot be recycled are called e-waste. E-waste today comprises a majority of the waste in the world. In other words, it is estimated to be about six times larger than other forms of waste. Another thing not considered is electricity waste, and the large bills that schools will be paying in order to accommodate so many computers. Every few years, computers will need to be refurbished. The percentage of computers not functioning properly after a few years, and then being wasted, is also not taken into consideration. There is also something called “embodied energy.” Embodied energy is basically the energy it takes to create the computer. A lot of people do not know this, but it is incredibly intensive to make electronic parts. In short, the earth is not being taken into consideration. In this day and age, a person should not take these kind of endeavors lightly. I cannot imagine how quickly we would speed up the degeneration of the earth and all her creatures, including ourselves, if schools around the U.S. used computer technology as its main source of information and instruction! Besides, books have a much longer lifespan and they can be recycled completely. Of course, even books are not perfect because they use trees to make them. However, I believe that until we come up with a way that is not wasteful and damaging, books are a much better device than computers. Another thing not being observed in Rahil’s commentary is posture issues and carpal tunnel issues. Though graduation rate might, hypothetically, improve, people’s health WILL decline. There are just so many studies that have been done about the unhealthiness of computers. My partner is in the school of architecture at UT currently, and she is always on the computer. Even when she was just working she had to be on the computer to use Auto-Cad and other programs everyday. Today, she has chronic neck and back issues, along with weekly wrist pains, and a few discs always popping out of place in her spine. She has to go to the doctor to get this fixed, and it is all due to the last ten years of being on a computer. Not to mention the eyestrain and headache problems she and I both have. Computers might be handy, but they are not healthy. For many of us they are very physically damaging. What kind of children will we be raising if we prop them up in front of a computer screen for all their years in school? Soon, all the generations after us will be like the people in the movie “WALL-E.” I would not allow my child to go to a school where they require computer usage to such an extent. Though the computer is acceptable to use on occasion, I do not subscribe to the idea that it is the “end all, be all” and that technology is our savior. I have done some traveling in Europe, and if there is one thing that is mentioned about Americans, besides their inability to grow beyond their bigotry and narrow-mindedness, it is that Americans have forgotten what nature is and where we really come from. We certainly do not come from computer science! Step outside, everyone, before we destroy the earth with our ignorance and it is too late to enjoy her awesome power and beauty.

Writing the Truth out of Texas Textbooks

So what is the deal with the Texas State Board of Education anyways? And how in the world did we end up voting in people who want to implement religion into the school curriculum and take out facts and true events related to minority groups? Anyone want to take a stab at this? I will take a turn: it’s the overly religious right-wingers on the SBOE who want our kids learning solely about Jesus and all the white, male, conservative followers of the last two thousand years.
Recent changes in Texas textbooks reflect the staunch resistance by the SBOE to the economical, social and spiritual evolution of the total population of America. Apparently, these “righties” want our children believing that, as columnist Michael A. Jones expresses it, “Jesus wrote the Declaration of Independence.” Relatively soon, our kids will know how to judge the Black, Hispanic, Asian, female and Gay population with the critical and condemning eye of a true religious, right-wing fanatic. Soon, your child will become one of the many Texas kids who blame President Obama for the deficit in our country instead of referring back to the 1.9 trillion that the Bush administration left him with! One last time, just for fun, I want to say, "religion has NO place in public schools! That is what a church is for!"
So, everybody in Texas get ready to hop into your time-machine! We are heading back to 100 B.C.E.! Forget about Harvey Milk and Jane Addams! Forget about the facts! Let us just toss out the book of morality and truth and re-write history, folks! If we work together, those lesbians, homosexuals, ethnic minorities, and that dispensable species called “woman,” will be—historically speaking—no more!
Really?! Well, here is my opposing proposition: Write your SBOE everybody! Tell them that we do not need their help in skewing our history anymore. I have embedded a link here. It will connect you to a site where you can write your opinion about these issues and any others you would like to mention to the State Board of Education. The SBOE has no idea what kind of outrage this will cause if enough people learn about what they are doing behind closed doors. Don McLeroy of the Texas SBOE stated in an interview with New York Times columnist James C. McKinley Jr. that the Republicans on the SBOE were simply “adding balance. History has already been skewed. Academia is skewed far to the left.”
Hmmm, Mr. McLeroy, I think the “founding fathers” were also compelled to give people the freedom to practice their own faiths without manipulative, religious influence from the local SBOE or any other entity, don’t you think? In many ways, they were running away from the same skewed perspective we are nurturing in our SBOE today. How ironic.

Texas Drivers Deal With Dangerous Surcharge

I found this opinion by Scott Henson on his weblog titled Grits for Breakfast. This specific piece is called “Texas Tribune Tackles Driver Responsibility Surcharge.” In it, Henson discusses the appalling surcharge and how it affects drivers in Texas. He touches on important facts, such as people getting charged exorbitant amounts of money for “minor infractions.” He also notes that some people get ticketed and are never informed and end up owing thousands of dollars, or worse. Henson reveals to his readers the truth as to why this DPS rule was created in the first place. It was set up, originally, as a money making “mechanism,” but instead has produced more uninsured drivers who are trapped in a never-ending cycle of fines because of the surcharge.
I chose this piece because recently my partner met a woman on the city bus who was trapped in one of these cycles. She now has a warrant out for her arrest, and it all started because of a “minor infraction” that she was never notified about until it was too late. I think that people who drive in Texas should know about this surcharge and what it is doing to Texas drivers and their families that they are trying to support. I agree with Henson completely. We should not have this surcharge in place if it is doing more damage than it is good. Henson states, “Trauma centers are important, but funding them with a mechanism that makes more drivers uninsured amounts to cutting off their nose to spite their face, and the amounts being generated don’t justify the unintended consequences and costs.”
I encourage everyone to read this piece and scroll through this weblog. Henson writes with clear articulation and seems to take into consideration different points of views and possible ways of reasoning. He appears intelligent and very well informed, with a substantial amount of experience relevant to the law, in general. I recommend reading his "About Me" section to learn more about his credibility.
Henson uses expert opinion when he brings in direct information from a Texas judge named Elisabeth Earle. Earle expresses, “A driver will get a ticket for driving without insurance. After paying the initial fine and court costs (already hundreds of dollars), he'll then find out that he also has to pay the state another $250 each year for three years. He can’t afford that fine, so his license gets suspended, but he continues driving. He gets pulled over, goes to jail and winds up in front of [me] Earle.”
Texans cannot possibly sit on the way-side and remain uniformed while something like this is going on. To me, it appears to be criminal on the Texas government’s part. It should absolutely not exist. I only hope that by sharing this with the few, perhaps the many will hear the facts and be driven to create change.

The Eyelids of Texas are Closed on the Topic of Sex and Teens

I found this commentary titled "Texas Kids' Sex Ed Programs Shouldn't End at 'Don't'" in The Dallas Morning News on-line. It was written by columnist Jacquielynn Floyd on February sixteenth of this year. It seems to me that Floyd is speaking out to those who have children in school, or know children in school, who are concerned with the rising number of teen pregnancies and STD’s in Texas. Floyd’s argument is that the sex-education policies and programs that Texas has in place at schools are not working. She claims it is because they promote “abstinence only” and do not teach the teens about safe sex. Floyd makes bold statements against Texans and their inability to properly deal with teenagers and their sexual activities: “Can Texans actually believe that our sex-education policies are working? I guess, if they're still buying into the notion that an hour or so of demonstrably absurd sex-is-a-sin-and-condoms- don't-work moralizing is all the classroom instruction our kids need.” I believe she is on the right track, since Texas is officially ranked to be the state with the third highest birthrate among teens. Floyd’s spitfire talk and usage of hard facts from other sources gives her an air of credibility. By bringing in the public health expert, Janet Realini, into her argument she further solidifies her cry for a much needed change in the current sexual education programs. Realini states, “’We all want to promote abstinence, but the 'don't do it' message can be delivered in a multitude of ways.’”
I feel that the topic of sexual education for our youths is another topic that many Texans just do not want to address. Teens are going to have sex. There is no reason to apply religion, marriage, or “abstinence only” to such an “issue.” Why? Because sex is not an issue. People have sex. Teenagers have sex. Maybe not all teenagers have sex, but many of them do. It should not be about preventing teens from having sex. We should be teaching our youth to do it safely. It is absolutely ridiculous that we have programs that teach our youth not to have any sex, and leave them with no guidance as to how to have sex safely! How archaic are we? Total abstinence has never been shown to work efficiently. This, to me, is right up there with the seriousness of abortion. Abortion is not a “sin,” it is a need. If it is not met then women will find other ways to abort an unwanted pregnancy, even at the cost of their own life. And that is what we are talking about with both of these topics: the lives of people. Whether the lives are changed by an unexpected pregnancy or by an STD, these things need to be handled with maturity and progressive ideas that allow room for change, understanding and forgiveness. Abstinence, like being an anti-abortionist, does not function or contain these essential aspects of humanity in its heart. As a state, we must learn to evolve or we will be left in the "dust" of every other state, country, world, dimension and, well, you name it.

Say "no" to Religion in School!

I found this article called "Reclaiming Education: hoping for sanity at the SBOE" in the Austin Chronicle. In it, columnist Lee Nichols discusses the 15 members of the State Board of Education in Texas and the candidates running against them in the SBOE partisan races. Nichols also reveals some of their appalling techniques in quarreling like children. Seven members are either religious or political “fundamentalists.” The other eight consists of 5 Democrats and “3 moderate Republicans” who apparently do not enjoy the presence of the fundamentalists on the “SBOE.” It seems to cause a lot of friction between the members (and those running against them in the upcoming election) when topics such as curriculum standards or evolution and creationism are discussed. I chose this article because I believe that there is no place for religion or extreme fundamentalism in school. I am firm and quite unmovable in my position on religion in schools. In other words, it does not belong in school. To quote an anonymous friend from last semester in U.S. Government: “School is for learning evolution and facts. Church is for learning about creationism and other theories.” This kind of political division in the SBOE could cause a bunch of turmoil for people with children in school. One day, students may walk in to school with only a few changes to the standards required by the state. Of course, the kids may walk into school and be forced to learn about a religious ideology that they do not believe in, nor do their parents want them to be learning as a fact. Not everyone believes the world was created 6,000 years ago. Some of us believe in the existence of the Sumerians! For those more relaxed Creationists, some people do not believe in "God," or at least your god. Can you imagine the kind of friction this would cause between friends at school? Or, how about the teachers being forced to teach something they believe to be false and completely off track from the truth? I think these fundamentalists (on the SBOE and running in election) need to step away from their pulpits and face reality. Reality is that you have to at LEAST attempt to stay on the facts relevant to school, and keep the religious dogma where it belongs: in churches.