Joe Quigley, teacher - Part Five, page 2

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Part Five, page 2

Within days I was, once again, summoned to the office. Apparently a parent had called to complain about the display in my classroom. It was disturbing to her daughter, and to the principal's way of thinking might be in violation of the spirit of the memo on bulletin boards. He told me of her concern that I was "promoting The Homosexual Agenda" and he agreed that school is not the place for that. Endeavoring to be honest and educational, I asked him what promoting meant, and if it was also promoting if it was what the majority was pushing, such as "prayer around the pole", or the many other religion-based activities we had on campus. Was it simply informing when the majority did it and only promoting if done by the minority? I challenged him to point out one non-heterosexual thing we do at school that would make a Gay or Lesbian student feel that they were not just ever so lucky to be guests on everyone else's campus. Should we wait for them to drop out or die before we care, and, then aren't we relieved they are not our problem anymore? I challenged him to go with me on a cold night this winter and sit on the corner of NW 39th and Barnes and watch the homeless high school age kids try to find a place to stay out of the cold because they had no marketable skills to allow them to get the jobs they need to afford housing and because their parents threw them out of the house in the name of traditional and family values. I asked him if he ever wondered why some kids just quietly drop out of a school they know they are not really a part of because they get that message everyday. And, after telling him that he may be a little ashamed when some of them call out his name and wave to him, I informed him that the proof of his attitude was in his accepting the parental complaint about a display that did not even exist.

The next day, realizing I was just as much in trouble for not having a display as I would be for having one, I put one up. And, because it was a book display and not a poster, I did not think I would have to get the principal's permission, nor that it violated the fictitious all-staff memo.

* x* * * x*

The assistant principal who was to observe me again this year wanted an informal chat. He had been apprised of the parent's complaint about my promotional display. He was still talking about the previous week's complaint and nonexistent display. He was not aware of the real display which consisted of books with short stories written for, by and about Gay and Lesbian teens, historical documents, books on the Holocaust that centered on Homosexuals in the camps, books by and about African-American Gays and Lesbians, three reference books that answered not only questions for Gay and Lesbian Teens, but their straight friends as well, and a book on Two-Spirited Native-Americans.

He had grown a lot since last year's events, and having received his law degree was a little more open to discuss legalities. He was familiar with the 1984 case against the Oklahoma City schools' ban on teachers supplying positive information about Gays and Lesbians, and had to admit that "promoting the Homosexual Life-style" was a hollow charge at best.

His main concern was that whereas I, as a teacher, was on campus because I chose to be there, the students were there by law and had no choice, so they should not be made to feel uncomfortable in a classroom. I smiled and told him that has been my point all along.

Gay and Lesbian students have to attend school everyday by law, and we don't have one thing here for them. We even remove posters they might get to see for only one month a year while there are a multitude of heterosexual activities all year, and try to ban books that may be the only positive thing we have for them on an exaggeratedly heterosexual campus. When do they start to count?

Point made, point taken.

His original plan then became delaying my evaluation until after October so he would not have to contend with the display in the room. I did finally admit that there was one now, but it was not the one he had been referring to. But he found he could not treat me any differently than any other teacher and so he would not be able to delay my evaluation.

He went to my room, saw that the display was at the back of the room, and as there were two doors no one was forced to go near it. He saw that, by sitting in any desk in the room, students could not see the display unless they turned totally in their seats. And, finally, he checked out the contents of the books and saw that they were educational and of no threat to anyone.

As of now, the display will be up for the month of October.

Joe Quigley
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
October, 2000

(Joe has documents on file corroborating every incident in this series. He is currently working on an update which I will post as soon as it is ready. - Rob)

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