Who's Taking Measure 9 Too Far?
Notice that the text of the bill does NOT prohibit ALL instruction on homosexuality and bisexuality, only instruction that promotes or sanctions those
behaviors. From here on out is my actual letter (before I edited it for length) plus DEEPER sections, where I go into more comments and explanations
of my take on this issue.
This letter is in response to the October 10th editorial entitled "OCA goes too far with Measure 9." As usual, the Editorial Board of the Barometer have
used their power to write down their biased opinion without any factual back up. They give you an example of a wonderful gay teacher who will lose his
job if measure 9 passes. On top of that, even those teachers who are allowed to stay, won't even be able to mention the words "gay" or "homosexual,"
thereby depriving their students of information valuable to their education. Measure 9 would try to deny the very existence of homosexuality.
DEEPER: Notice the editorial with an Al Gore-like story about some poor guy who will lose his job because of the evil OCA . That seems to be a pattern
in politics these days, with conservatives doing some of it too. I realize the people who employ this tactic are trying to bring their point home and make
people see how it affects real life people. However, I reject this method of propaganda. Not only are extreme cases (many time with factual errors) cited,
but the story distracts from the main issue. It makes your emotions start and your brain stop unless you're disciplined enough to use both at the same time.
Where I come from, this is called fear-mongering. For those of you not familiar with the phrase, it means misrepresenting a plan or bill with the
intentions of scaring the populace into opposing it or voting against it. People are going to lose their jobs. Our kids are not going to learn simple facts.
Since the editorial didn't employ any facts, only shaky opinions, there's not much for me to refute. But let's examine their prose.
DEEPER: No one will lose their jobs from this, and students will still learn facts about homosexuality (like they really need the schools to explain it to
them; I found out by 8th grade without any help from my teachers). The reprecussion called for in the bill is that schools who violate the policy could
SOME funding, not all. However, an almost exact law stating schools can't promote religion is in effect, and not one dime of funding to
schools has been lost, and I guarentee you that there are a few schools around who have violated that policy.
First, the editors quote the text of Measure 9. A good start. But then they promptly translate it to twist its meaning. According to the OCA (who, by the
way, wrote the bill), Measure 9 wouldn't limit discussion of homosexual topics when appropriate. It would do just what it says: disallow instruction that
encourages it. For example, "Homosexuality is simply an equal lifestyle that everyone should explore." Never mind that the average life span for
homosexuals is 30 years less than that of the general population. Why don't we tell our children the truth about the homosexual lifestyle, and then they
can decide if it is something they want to try. Evidence abounds that homosexuality is harmful to both physical and psychological health.
DEEPER: The actual text of the bill:
And what's this psychobabble that students wouldn't learn that some of Shakespeare's sonnets were written to a boy? I went to a Christian school and I
learned that. And, hard as it may be to believe, I learned it in a way that did not promote homosexuality. Measure 9 isn't about limiting learning. It's
about getting rid of wasting hours of class time speculating whether or not Michelangelo or George Washington were gay (I've actually heard this claim)
and returning the focus to actual learning. It's about using our schools giving our kids the tools to compete in society instead of using them as a social
engineering experiment. And, finally, it's about letting parents know that they won't be sending their kids off to school to be morally corrupted. Every
parent should have that right. Let's focus education to reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history, and the arts, and leave out propoganda for social
change. Change is not always good.
DEEPER: Most of the opposing arguments in the voter's pamphlet try to scare you into thinking this measure will stop health education on Aids, cause
depression or even suicide, and promote violence against homosexuals. The measure obviously does none of the above. Take a good look for yourself
and see if you can construe the bill to mean that. Meanwhile, if your one that thinks this issue is irrelevant to public schools because promotion of
homosexuality isn't already or going to take place, PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING OPINION IN FAVOR FROM SOME CALIFORNIA
STATE CONGRESSMEN!!!
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATORS ASK HELP
FROM OREGON VOTERS
We, the following California legislators, are pleading with the voters of Oregon to please protect the children of Oregon. In last
four years homosexual activists, led by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN), have greatly accelerated their
activity in California's public schools.
Pro-homosexual curricula, films, and handouts have become commonplace -- such as the infamous Los Angeles Unified
handout claiming Abraham Lincoln was a homosexual!
We have school-sponsored homosexual proms and dances in our larger school districts, where students are encouraged to
meet adult homosexuals. We have in-services sometimes called "diversity training" -- at which teachers are taught how "to
introduce gay/lesbian issues in all curriculum areas."
Many of our schools routinely host homosexual speakers who give speeches that often contain graphic descriptions of various
homosexual sex acts. We have pro-homosexual counseling programs such as Project 10, which routinely refer troubled
students to outside homosexual organizations. Incredibly, Project 10
distributes a handbook that contains stories about the seduction of students by homosexual teachers!
Even worse, last year two homosexual rights bills passed which were portrayed as simply measures to protect gays from
discrimination in the schools but have become vehicles to advance their agenda. Legal counsel for our Dept. of Education
recently informed us that certain private schools must comply!
GLSEN has targeted your state. What has happened in California WILL happen in Oregon unless Measure 9 passes. The
public schools are not the place to promote or advocate this lifestyle. In California we are engaged in an intense battle to
protect our children from propaganda that promotes a lifestyle that could takes decades off their lives. However, you now have
the opportunity to preempt such a conflict by voting YES on Measure 9.
Assemblyman Steve Baldwin
(This information furnished by Assemblyman Steve Baldwin.)
Argument: This measure is not needed because homosexuality is not being promoted in the public schools.
Argument: This measure fosters hate, divisiveness and bigotry.
This webpage is my extended comments concerning a letter to the editor I wrote in response to a Barometer (OSU's school newspaper) editorial about
Measure 9 which is sponsored by the OCA and, if passed this November, "prohibits public schools from providing instruction on behaviors relating to
homosexuality and bisexuality in a manner that encourages, promotes or sanctions such behaviors." I felt the editorial in the barometer was very unfair
and off the wall, completely misrepresenting measure 9.
. . . prohibits public schools from providing instruction on behaviors relating to homosexuality and
bisexuality in a manner that encourages, promotes or sanctions such behaviors."
It seems the editors never got past the word bisexuality.
ARGUMENT IN FAVOR
Assemblyman Rico Oller
Assemblyman Bruce Thompson
Assemblyman George House
Assemblyman Dick Ackerman
Assemblyman Tony Strickland
Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian
Senator Ray Haynes
Senator Pete Knight
Senator Bill Morrow
Here are a couple more good refutations of arguments leveled by the opposition to measure 9:
Response: A couple examples of homosexual promotion include an incident at Cleveland High School in Portland last year
when the Administration, through the Sexual Diversity Committee, brought in numerous books portraying homosexuality in a
positive way. Attempts to bring in a countering view were brushed off.
Another example occurred in Cottage Grove when the Head Start program promoted prohomosexual books called "Heather
Has Two Mommies" and "Daddy's Roommate." The effort was promptly curtailed when parents complained. Space does
not permit to explain other examples but most people recognize the increasing influence to normalize this behavior that is
harmful and immoral.
Response: These tired cliches are convenient to use to stir up fear when well-reasoned arguments are lacking. Just because
one proposes a measure to prevent promotion of a risk-filled and controversial sexual behavior doesn't make them divisive or
bigoted.
Read Entire Measure, Summary, and Arguments in Favor and Opposed to Measure 9
Check Out What's Already Happening on the East Coast
