That's gay!

I don't advocate the use of that phrase in a derogatory manner; I just want to say it while I still can! There is a movement in this country (which, like usual, is starting in California) to ban that phrase in schools.

The vast majority of students who use the phrase don't use it as a derogatory slur toward homosexuals, but rather in place of a phrase like, "That's lame" or "That's silly". However, the thought police in at least one school--and there will be others--have decided that the use of that phrase constitutes "sexual harassment" and is therefore a serious enough offense that they suspended a fourth-grade student for saying it. Read story here.

I wonder if the administrators at that school would suspend a student for making a derogatory statement about Christians? Somehow I doubt it. The radar of the speech Nazis seems to only pick up on words that are perceived to be derogatory toward "gays".

This type of infringement of free speech rights is just one of the reasons many of us opposed Iowa's "Bully Bill". Many schools in Iowa will no doubt ban the phrase "That's gay" or "That's so gay". I know this because one of the biggest arguments that was used for this law, and for bullying/harassment policies in the local school districts, is that "gay" students hear that phrase several times every day, and that constitutes bullying or harassment. This from a study commissioned by GLSEN that is trotted out at every opportunity, and is the foundation on which many state lawmakers and school board members based their decision to support a bullying/harassment policy that would include "sexual orientation".

Click here to visit the NEA (National Education Association)