I was with you until you wrote: "Religious families should not feel any more threatened by queer theory in schools than gay kids should feel by religious beliefs or studies." The goal of Queer Theory is to be subversive and overturn boundaries. Of course they don't teach Queer Theory as an actual 'subject', but ideas of Queer Theory are woven into the curriculum in a very sneaky way starting in Kindergarten. The guidance and materials that form SOGI curriculum have been passed to the education system from gender identity lobbyists and LGBTQ+ organizations. Many parents are shocked to learn that inappropriate child sexualizing and science-denying content has, for years now, been presented without parental knowledge or consent, based solely on political ideology that is not adequately vetted, is not backed by evidence, ignores reality, and often railroads children’s personal boundaries. The SOGI (Queer Theory) teachings are highly manipulative and seem almost engineered to manufacture gender dysphoria in children. Queer Theory is a political ideology and is not neutral. It has no place in the public school system.
Great post, Kate. All you rightly said is based on sound reason and requires a culture in which reasoning and moral laws are sound. Sadly, our culture has undergone a massive shift in the past 60+ years that has replaced sound reasoning with reasoning that favors the easiest road to immediate satisfaction.
That sought satisfaction may be the alleviation of fear, the silencing of uncomfortable opposition, or safety from a manufactured virus.
I believe the only way to implement your reasoning is to begin by changing our culture. Live the culture you desire. Always speak the truth, reject politicized 'science', climate, and medical fearmongering. Get government out of your children's education. Respect those you disagree with, but never give ground or compromise reality. Toughest of all, speak out against lies regardless of the consequences.
Most of us would like to think we have 'free speech' in America. The dismal reality is we do not. Speaking up can cause personal and financial harm, job loss, create enemies of neighbors and relatives. Yet speaking up is the only way to recast our culture and allow reason and truth to rule. It's a decision we all face.
In my view this is a sweet, kind, deeply well-meaning and ultimately ridiculous post.
Public schools should be rigorously secular in examining belief systems when appropriate for the curriculum. "Queer theory," which is academic bullshit, doesn't belong anywhere before university-level courses. But it would certainly be useful to give children the thinking skills to be able to recognize that all cults are the same; chaplains and queer theorists are representatives for cults. Explorations of gender ideology is like exploring the trinitarian nature of the Christian concept of God. Enough rabbit holes through which one can get more than sufficient of one's daily step target but otherwise of no practical purpose. You weren't visited by a trans man. You were visited by an unhappy woman trying to simulate a life of maleness. Emotional distress and mental illness are heavy burdens. We oughtn't make them heavier by being complicit in keeping people trapped in such unhealthy states of being.
Self-defense courses labeling themselves as serving buzzword buzzword are a determined perpetuation of silliness. BIPOC people? Say that out loud ten times and then go sit in the corner for a nice little time out.
The problem at the essence of these issues is the classification of LGBTQ+ individuals as a legitimate protected class for which I believe they do not qualify. A black person cannot lie and say they aren’t black, a woman in the naturally occurring universe cannot hide that she has 30% less muscle mass than a man and will forever be at their physical mercy whether she likes it or not. A blind person cannot ditch their guide dog and wander into the abyss, and the intellectually impaired cannot feign acts of genius. On the other hand, LGBTQ+ identities are precisely that, an identity that can be manipulated when push comes to shove. Does this mean they don’t deserve equal rights? No, they most certainly DO and are already entitled to equal rights, along with all other citizens under United States law.
Furthermore, please tell me when a religious parade celebrating Christianity or Islam will be a highly encouraged activity for students in 2023 and that, if students decline to attend, would face similar social condemnation. Oh, that’s right, that would never happen because somehow LGBTQ+ ideological leanings received favoritism far beyond what any other “protected class” receives favoritism which in and of itself signifies it lacks criteria as a protected class. As demonstrated by the removal of “one nation under God” from the pledge of allegiance in public schools (which by the way manifested with a majority Christian population.) In stark contrast, pride flags and signs freely hang in a variety of public institutions despite a lacking symbolic or historical significance to such institutions. Meanwhile the same institutions mandate or encourage employees to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” all of which receives little to no scrutiny. This sort of foolishness will continue so long as physical, historical and biological realities are willfully ignored.
Live and let live, yes. Agree to disagree, yes. Teach assorted ideologies in public schools? NO. Not unless you are going to examine it among an assortment of ideologies INCLUDING religions, and then leave any decision concerning right and wrong as the individual's clear Charter Right.
Can't wait to see the back end of this bizarre dictatorial government, so we can bring Canada back, a land where we were happier, wealthier, and safer than now.
Let me be clear: schools already have policies in place to report abuse in the home. So do doctors and hospitals. And they do. At what point does the reasoning become acceptable that schools, i.e. the State, become the warden of children over the parent? Because that worked so well for the residential school system right?
Schools are already welcoming to LGBTQ+ kids, in fact many teachers revere them. But what we’ve seen over the past 2 decades is this radical swing in priorities. Whereas they used to be places of learning, classrooms and school policy are awash with special interests. And our declining student achievement reflects that. The pursuit of knowledge has been replaced with social justice initiatives, many of which are intent on indoctrination with their groupthink mantra. We now have millions of dollars being spent on SOGI resources while more and more kids are graduating illiterate and innumerate.
The pursuit of knowledge is the only thing that our schools should be focusing on, and we have lost our way.
Kate, this is first class. Exactly correct. I have written the OCDSB (and the new Director Buffone) to request that in public statements the board refrain from using inaccurate and prejudicial language to describe good faith protesting parents. Disagreement is not hate, despite activist attempts to conflate the two words/ideas. I have copied FAIR Ottawa on my comms to the OCDSB. How can I further help you? How can I get in touch with you directly? Thanks, Steven Lightfoot
Queer theory and Queering which is meant to destabilize Society is entirely different from respecting a gay person’s rights. One of the most important points is age appropriate teaching nit teaching to “groom “ children.
I was hoping for a more practical solution to this issue, but I’m afraid “agreeing to disagree” won’t quite cut it for the time and place we’re living in the West. We are at an ideological, philosophical and moral impasse, where one side’s entire identity is based on their ability to act upon desires and inclinations that are deemed sinful and harmful by the other. The only solution I can see for public education is less state intervention and more parental choice. Unfortunately the Canadian government will never allow this, because relinquishing control of public education to that extent would impact multiple interests groups and remove hundreds of millions of dollars from the public sector. We can have a society where all people are respected but opinions and ideas aren’t people. How we instill morals and values in our children cannot and should not be up for negotiation. Agreeing to disagree is not a solution, it’s a concession.
Agreeing to Disagree
I was with you until you wrote: "Religious families should not feel any more threatened by queer theory in schools than gay kids should feel by religious beliefs or studies." The goal of Queer Theory is to be subversive and overturn boundaries. Of course they don't teach Queer Theory as an actual 'subject', but ideas of Queer Theory are woven into the curriculum in a very sneaky way starting in Kindergarten. The guidance and materials that form SOGI curriculum have been passed to the education system from gender identity lobbyists and LGBTQ+ organizations. Many parents are shocked to learn that inappropriate child sexualizing and science-denying content has, for years now, been presented without parental knowledge or consent, based solely on political ideology that is not adequately vetted, is not backed by evidence, ignores reality, and often railroads children’s personal boundaries. The SOGI (Queer Theory) teachings are highly manipulative and seem almost engineered to manufacture gender dysphoria in children. Queer Theory is a political ideology and is not neutral. It has no place in the public school system.
Great post, Kate. All you rightly said is based on sound reason and requires a culture in which reasoning and moral laws are sound. Sadly, our culture has undergone a massive shift in the past 60+ years that has replaced sound reasoning with reasoning that favors the easiest road to immediate satisfaction.
That sought satisfaction may be the alleviation of fear, the silencing of uncomfortable opposition, or safety from a manufactured virus.
I believe the only way to implement your reasoning is to begin by changing our culture. Live the culture you desire. Always speak the truth, reject politicized 'science', climate, and medical fearmongering. Get government out of your children's education. Respect those you disagree with, but never give ground or compromise reality. Toughest of all, speak out against lies regardless of the consequences.
Most of us would like to think we have 'free speech' in America. The dismal reality is we do not. Speaking up can cause personal and financial harm, job loss, create enemies of neighbors and relatives. Yet speaking up is the only way to recast our culture and allow reason and truth to rule. It's a decision we all face.
In my view this is a sweet, kind, deeply well-meaning and ultimately ridiculous post.
Public schools should be rigorously secular in examining belief systems when appropriate for the curriculum. "Queer theory," which is academic bullshit, doesn't belong anywhere before university-level courses. But it would certainly be useful to give children the thinking skills to be able to recognize that all cults are the same; chaplains and queer theorists are representatives for cults. Explorations of gender ideology is like exploring the trinitarian nature of the Christian concept of God. Enough rabbit holes through which one can get more than sufficient of one's daily step target but otherwise of no practical purpose. You weren't visited by a trans man. You were visited by an unhappy woman trying to simulate a life of maleness. Emotional distress and mental illness are heavy burdens. We oughtn't make them heavier by being complicit in keeping people trapped in such unhealthy states of being.
Self-defense courses labeling themselves as serving buzzword buzzword are a determined perpetuation of silliness. BIPOC people? Say that out loud ten times and then go sit in the corner for a nice little time out.
The problem at the essence of these issues is the classification of LGBTQ+ individuals as a legitimate protected class for which I believe they do not qualify. A black person cannot lie and say they aren’t black, a woman in the naturally occurring universe cannot hide that she has 30% less muscle mass than a man and will forever be at their physical mercy whether she likes it or not. A blind person cannot ditch their guide dog and wander into the abyss, and the intellectually impaired cannot feign acts of genius. On the other hand, LGBTQ+ identities are precisely that, an identity that can be manipulated when push comes to shove. Does this mean they don’t deserve equal rights? No, they most certainly DO and are already entitled to equal rights, along with all other citizens under United States law.
Furthermore, please tell me when a religious parade celebrating Christianity or Islam will be a highly encouraged activity for students in 2023 and that, if students decline to attend, would face similar social condemnation. Oh, that’s right, that would never happen because somehow LGBTQ+ ideological leanings received favoritism far beyond what any other “protected class” receives favoritism which in and of itself signifies it lacks criteria as a protected class. As demonstrated by the removal of “one nation under God” from the pledge of allegiance in public schools (which by the way manifested with a majority Christian population.) In stark contrast, pride flags and signs freely hang in a variety of public institutions despite a lacking symbolic or historical significance to such institutions. Meanwhile the same institutions mandate or encourage employees to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” all of which receives little to no scrutiny. This sort of foolishness will continue so long as physical, historical and biological realities are willfully ignored.
Who we want to have sex with should be the least interesting thing about us.
Thank you for this well thought and sensitive article. If we had more people like Kate Johnson we'd have a lot less suffering.
Live and let live, yes. Agree to disagree, yes. Teach assorted ideologies in public schools? NO. Not unless you are going to examine it among an assortment of ideologies INCLUDING religions, and then leave any decision concerning right and wrong as the individual's clear Charter Right.
Can't wait to see the back end of this bizarre dictatorial government, so we can bring Canada back, a land where we were happier, wealthier, and safer than now.
Let me be clear: schools already have policies in place to report abuse in the home. So do doctors and hospitals. And they do. At what point does the reasoning become acceptable that schools, i.e. the State, become the warden of children over the parent? Because that worked so well for the residential school system right?
Schools are already welcoming to LGBTQ+ kids, in fact many teachers revere them. But what we’ve seen over the past 2 decades is this radical swing in priorities. Whereas they used to be places of learning, classrooms and school policy are awash with special interests. And our declining student achievement reflects that. The pursuit of knowledge has been replaced with social justice initiatives, many of which are intent on indoctrination with their groupthink mantra. We now have millions of dollars being spent on SOGI resources while more and more kids are graduating illiterate and innumerate.
The pursuit of knowledge is the only thing that our schools should be focusing on, and we have lost our way.
Kate, this is first class. Exactly correct. I have written the OCDSB (and the new Director Buffone) to request that in public statements the board refrain from using inaccurate and prejudicial language to describe good faith protesting parents. Disagreement is not hate, despite activist attempts to conflate the two words/ideas. I have copied FAIR Ottawa on my comms to the OCDSB. How can I further help you? How can I get in touch with you directly? Thanks, Steven Lightfoot
Queer theory and Queering which is meant to destabilize Society is entirely different from respecting a gay person’s rights. One of the most important points is age appropriate teaching nit teaching to “groom “ children.
A very reasonable solution that would have been embraced not that long ago. Today, however, trans rights come before all others.
Excellent article! Thank you for laying out your perspective in such a straightforward and respectful way!
Well done, Kate. Thank you for your thoughts and wisdom.
https://medium.com/@sensoriumunclouded/crying-wolf-social-control-the-medicalization-of-gender-and-the-monetization-of-american-68b259771499
I was hoping for a more practical solution to this issue, but I’m afraid “agreeing to disagree” won’t quite cut it for the time and place we’re living in the West. We are at an ideological, philosophical and moral impasse, where one side’s entire identity is based on their ability to act upon desires and inclinations that are deemed sinful and harmful by the other. The only solution I can see for public education is less state intervention and more parental choice. Unfortunately the Canadian government will never allow this, because relinquishing control of public education to that extent would impact multiple interests groups and remove hundreds of millions of dollars from the public sector. We can have a society where all people are respected but opinions and ideas aren’t people. How we instill morals and values in our children cannot and should not be up for negotiation. Agreeing to disagree is not a solution, it’s a concession.
Glad to see not everyone at Queen’s has lost their minds. I was somewhat perturbed by the undergrad Equity Admission Self-Identity page (https://www.queensu.ca/admission/equity-admission-self-identification).
Cha Gheill!