My class just voted 5-0 that "gay" is a bad word.

[Smarmie Doofus]

Small, special needs class. Teenagers.

I'm having them help w. my LGBT History bulletin board this year.

I'll post some pics in a few days.

[Brickbat]

1. Do you mean "when used as a slur"? Or do they think being gay is bad?

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. I think they think that being gay is bad.

It's special ed... there's not a lot of subtlety in their thinking.

I'll do a revote after the project.

[Brickbat]

7. Why vote in the first place?

.

[Smarmie Doofus]

12. Pre-test, post-test . It's an education thing: "test; teach; test."

Gotta have a baseline. Otherwise how would you know if you made any progress?

[pnwmom]

17. But maybe the kids were trying to please you -- or go along with each other --

in their responses. How exactly did you pose the question, and under what circumstances? Were they raising their hands or answering privately? And what were they asked?

[jwirr]

10. Don't be so sure about that - children in special ed programs face

a lot of discrimination in their lives - blatant name calling and teasing. They do understand that.

[Smarmie Doofus]

14. True. It's just that I haven't noticed muuch carry over that way.

Generally my special ed pop. pretty much reflects the social attitudes of their age-demographic.

[jwirr]

15. And that can be a real problem. My great grandson who is 11 was

telling me about his first sex education class in school. He first talked to me about how all the other kids were laughing and horsing around. I suspect he did also but he at least knew that he should not. Then he started talking to me about how that age group turns everything into a sexual statement or a name to call someone. He said in his whole class he has only one friend who does not call people names. I told him that he should just ignore them and continue to do what he knew was right.

It is a hard age. They are just discovering their own sexuality and then they are getting all this negative sh-t from others.

[xchrom]

2. That's too bad. Nt

[Lint Head]

3. prior tot he 60's gay use to mean happy

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. It sure don't mean that anymore. n/t

[nichomachus]

8. Actually, the current usage was around long before that

It merely came unto public consciousness during the late '60s.

Prior to Stonewall, gay folks had to talk in code to avoid being detected. So gay, which meant something else, was a way of saying that someone was a homosexual. Just as "friend of Dorothy" was another way of saying it. If you were overheard by a straight person, it wouldn't give the game away.

I'm old enough to remember when we used a lot of code words. We even gave the gay bars code names, so that if coworkers overheard us making plans, it wouldn't expose us.

[izquierdista]

11. And now right-wingers have to talk in code

They have to say "where's the birth certificate" instead of F-U N!&&$%. Hey, there's a thought, maybe 'fun', which means something else, is on its way to having a new meaning.

[pnwmom]

6. But aren't you planting the idea in their heads by having a vote?

[Smarmie Doofus]

13. How do you mean? n/t

[pnwmom]

16. I mean people are suggestible.

I used to design questionnaires, and you have to be very careful how you state a question and in what order you place the questions. If you say, "how many here think gay is a bad word?" you'll get one answer. You'd get another answer if you said, "When you hear the word gay, what do you think of?" Or "how many people here think gay is a good word?"

And you'll also get different answers if you ask people things privately, than if you ask them in front of others. If one kid answers that it's a bad word, then another says the same thing, I'm not surprised that everyone would decide to agree.

[Smarmie Doofus]

18. No, pnw, it wasn't a scientific poll. I was about to start a short lesson..

... an intro, if you will ....on lgbt history month and the project we will be doing.

The opener was something like, "some people think the word gay is a GOOD word and some think it's a BAD word.

Lets take a vote."

I called each student publicly and tallied each vote on the board. Result was 5-zip for BAD.

It led into a larger point I was seeking to make that some people think gay is a GOOD word. Which led us into a discussion of lgbt history mos., etc etc. I'm sure you get the idea.

It is what it is. 5-ZIP under the circumstances described.

[pnwmom]

19. I'm glad you gave both options but it sounds to me like they were being put on the spot.

Kids are very touchy about the thought of being gay. (As are many adults, of course.) They might have been afraid that if they publicly said, "good," then others might think they were gay.

I wonder what people would have answered if you had also given the option, "neither." Or -- "it depends." Or "Sometimes good, sometimes bad."

I think it would have taken some courage for a child to answer "good" after three or friends had already said "bad." So the question becomes, are you really measuring attitude about the word "gay," or are you measuring bravery and willingness to buck the tide?

[haikugal]

9. Well....

my name is Gay and I've actually had people tell me they'd change their name. I stopped being surprised by these attitudes a long time ago...I like my name and I like rainbows too.