Gay kiss during a high school musical causes walkout.
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBS Connecticut) — A Connecticut high school musical causes a public walkout after two men in the cast kissed during the performance.
It happened during the “Zanna Don’t!” musical at Hartford Public High School last Friday.
“There are always circumstances (in organizing these programs) under which the values of the student or their family come into play,” said Adam Johnson, principal of the Government and Law Academy at the high school, told CBS Connecticut.
He added that many students expressed a desire to skip the show due to the subject matter.
“It’s a balancing act of individual values and the expectations of the school … (and) it was interesting, actually, seeing the apprehension,” Johnson explained.
“Zanna Don’t!” depicts life at the fictitious Heartsville High, where students with academically-charged interests sit atop the popularity echelon while football players are the outcasts, and heterosexuals must conceal their sexual preference to avoid public scrutiny.
During the show, two men in the cast share a brief kiss — a lip lock that became a great point of contention.
“There was a public walkout by a bunch of students (when the kiss happened) … mostly male,” Johnson said. “It was visually evident (due to the jerseys the team was wearing) that a lot of football players got up and walked out. It was almost a symbolic kind of thing.”
Reportedly, the school began receiving a great number of phone calls. The dean of students was even allegedly paid a visit by a Bible-wielding parent that spoke about homosexuals in an unflattering manner.
“In the weeks prior … we were told by those organizing the play that there was going to be a boy-boy kiss,” said Johnson, noting the importance of accepting homosexual intimacy as society accepts heterosexual intimacy. “When one teacher asked if I wanted to remove it, I said absolutely not.”
The production was produced by a joint effort between a task force created by Leadership Greater Hartford’s Quest program and True Colors. It was one of 16 projects available for the taking by task forces involved in Quest, participant Louise Provenzano explained.
“Our specific task force voted for this project because we believe in it, especially in light of national and local stories about LGBTQ issues and bullying,” Provenzano, who worked on the marketing committee for the project, told CBS Connecticut. “It’s not a comfortable topic for many folks … but our group is very passionate about bringing the message of inclusiveness and … compassion to the community.”
And with Spirit Day – a holiday during which celebrants promote awareness and widespread acceptance of the LGBTQ community – coming up on Oct. 20, the timing seemed perfect.
“Through humor … and music, we’re able to address uncomfortable topics and very serious issues for many,” Provenzano said.
“Most change that comes about does require a certain amount of movement through the uncomfortable – the change process can be a bit messy and disruptive,” Ted Carroll, president of Leadership Greater Hartford, told CBS Connecticut.
After the performance, a talk back session was held to promote a dialog between students, administrators and moderators, and materials were handed out for those seeking more information about issues that affect the LGBTQ community.
Though there were members of the community put off by the show’s content, many also received it positively, Johnson said.
Its message of acceptance is especially important to proponents of “Zanna Don’t!” – which is why two more productions of the show will be performed at Hartford Public High School on Oct. 21. One performance will be for the school’s two remaining academies, and the other will be for the general public.
“I think that we’re at a time in history where there is tremendous focus on bullying and the way students are treating each other, and how they are treated, in school,” Johnson said. “We have to teach students how to respect and honor each other. (The students) need to learn about the diversity of the world and respecting the rights of all people. (I’m) really glad that we did this program.”
(End of story, my comments follow.)
And so the brainwashing/indoctrination of our children continues. I'm almost surprised that those students walking out weren't threatened with some form of retribution such as suspension. But in a few years, after the pro gay groups feel more sure of themselves I'll bet we'll see such measures. At the very least, double secret probation.
Just how much further does the rotting of our society go before we see a point of no return? Maybe we're already there.
I don't see why public funds should be used for this sort of propaganda. Even if it only involves turning on the lights of the auditorium, public funds are involved.
This is the sort of issue where organizations such as the Knights of Columbus and their non Catholic counterparts need to get involved. This is where the local Pentecostal churches need to voice their displeasure. It's time for those who believe they're doing the will of God to stand up and be counted.
Because a direct lack of that attitude and it's associated actions is whats brought us to this.
6 comments:
If I had known in advance, I would have gotten a nice group of sensitive, caring, inclusive folk together and attended, so we could puke in unison at the endorsement of sodomitic foreplay.
Indoctrination, indeed. Let's hear it for the people who had the guts to walk out!
Anthony, it takes a lot more guts for the average gay kid to get through high school than for a group of presumably popular football players to get worked up over a perceived threat to their masculinity and social dominance. I very much doubt that these boys live chaste lives, their only kisses brief and private, their hands never venturing into dangerous territory until their wedding days.
So you know, I'm not saying that totally ex cathedra. I'm gay; I remember just how terrifying high school was, and few but the most devout of the student body were as chaste as I was. I didn't even go on a date until I was nineteen; at least half of my friends had had multiple sexual partners by then.
"And so the brainwashing/indoctrination of our children continues."
This statement begs some important questions. Why is it unworthy of comment when a man and a woman kiss, but brainwashing and indoctrination when two men or two women kiss? More pointedly, why isn't it considered brainwashing or indoctrination to censor any and all representations of homosexual affection, but not to apply the same standard symmetrically with resepect to heterosexual affection?
Jordan, so you know, I'm not gay. Yet I suffered some bullying throughout middle school and high school. Put away the couch; I'm not about to engage in duelling psychobabble.
"Why is it unworthy of comment when a man and a woman kiss, but brainwashing and indoctrination when two men or two women kiss? More pointedly, why isn't it considered brainwashing or indoctrination to censor any and all representations of homosexual affection, but not to apply the same standard symmetrically with resepect to heterosexual affection?" The basics of the answer is very simple: heterosexuality has a biological raison d'être that homosexuality does not. This isn't to say it's therefore just to deny homosexuals jobs or beat homosexuals up. It's to say that it's unrealistic to ignore the role of reproduction, to pretend it's irrelevant or — worse — to pretend that technology has changed basic human facts. In fact, if you wanted to be strictly Darwinian about it, homosexuality is genetically speaking a survival-negative trait (assuming that it does have a genetic component, which isn't a settled question).
It isn't brainwashing when a man and a woman kiss because, at the end of the day, that's how the race got out of the trees. And you'd be surprised how much guts it takes to draw a line and take a stand on it, no matter whether you're a high-school jock or not.
"Jordan, so you know, I'm not gay."
Ha, thanks. :) So you know, I don't go around screaming it at people, although I don't hide it either. It was just so you knew I wasn't guessing what it's like to be a gay teenager. :)
"Yet I suffered some bullying throughout middle school and high school. Put away the couch; I'm not about to engage in duelling psychobabble."
First, I'm sad to hear that. Second, there's no need. I'm just saying that those football players don't exactly have a monopoly on guts or virtue—probably not by a mile.
"[H]eterosexuality has a biological raison d'être that homosexuality does not[… I]t's unrealistic to ignore the role of reproduction, to pretend it's irrelevant or — worse — to pretend that technology has changed basic human facts."
If you ask most heterosexuals why they are together, they will talk about their attraction for each other, how they complemented each other and enjoyed each other's company. They won't say that they got together because they wanted to have children. The children are a product of their unions, not the sole reason for their existence. In fact, most use some form of birth control to avoid having them until they are ready!
Heterosexual sex, given certain caveats, may result in children. Homosexual sex never will. I don't have any problem with either of those assertions; indeed, I'm very happy that my partner and I didn't have to worry about accidental pregnancy, and could decide to adopt or search out a surrogate when we were financially stable.
We didn't get together out of some illusion that we could have babies. We got together for the same reasons most heterosexual couples do: attraction, support, companionship. Sure we planned to start a family eventually, but that wasn't our main goal in being together.
I still don't see how that's brainwashing. :(
"In fact, if you wanted to be strictly Darwinian about it, homosexuality is genetically speaking a survival-negative trait (assuming that it does have a genetic component, which isn't a settled question)."
You are correct on both accounts. Homosexuality, as a trait, should be naturally selected against unless there is some exceptional benefit associated with those genes; for example, the genes that are expressed as an increased tendency for homosexuality in one sex correlate with increased fecundity in another. Nor is there a definite aetiology; genetic, pre-natal and behavioural factors have been imputed with varying degrees of justification.
But how is that important? If there is a strong genetic component to homosexuality and it is not associated with any positive selective characteristics, the homosexual population will dwindle until it is rarer than it is today. I don't see how this is a problem?
Post a Comment