Last
night, students and parents in Des Moines, Iowa gathered to testify before their local
school board about the merits and problems assigned to moving forward with a
proposed stage production of 'The Laramie Project' at a high school. Some parents have raised
concerns about it not being age-appropriate for high
school teens. Watch a video clip here
to see what some of the attendees had to say at the hearing, especially one
student speaker who particulary hits the nail on the head about why the show
should and must go on.
This has happened elsewhere before and
it always blows me away how a play whose message is tolerance, told via people
speaking out about the real-life anti-gay murder of 21-year-old man, gets
labeled as "innapropriate" for students. The main charge in Des Moines is that the play is too
laden with violence and profanity. 
It's OK for them to "play" at shooting and
killing, or "play" at visiting prostitutes followed by beating them to death and
stealing the money back. But hearing people use profanity on a stage while
talking about the violent death of Matthew Sheperd who was killed for no other
reason than the fact that he was different from the two hetero thugs who beat
the crap out of him ... That's where they draw the line?
I would
offer that staging 'The Laramie Project' is not only appropriate, but should
become a staple for high school drama productions.
I can't
help sharing this article I came across, 'The Gay Agenda Assaults a High School in Flyover
Country.' Although it's very fringe thinking, it indexes
high in Google news search, making it morethan relevant to discuss.
The author, one Steve Bowers who says he runs a "one-man
think tank" (hint: that may one of his problems right there), has some of the
most homophobic nuggets I've come across in a while. Here are a few of his "best
lines":
"The Gay Lobby has been exploiting the tragic death of Matthew Shepherd ever since it occured that night in Laramie in 1998."
"Project Laramie uses itself as a platform to label every single person in every single town in Wyoming as bigots and homophobes (a term that is as bogus as the term 'hate crime')."
"Ever hear about the death of a heterosexual white male being branded a 'hate crime'? Didn't think so. But because white male Matthew Shepherd preferred his sex anally with a male, his death is supposed to be worth more than another white male that prefers vaginal sex with a woman."
Nice, eh?
Thank God for the 100 students who want to audition for parts in 'The Laramie Project'. They give me hope, and today I need some.
6 comments:
This material is totally age appropriate. Gays and lesbians suffer most during these years and this is the time when all young adults are learning how to behave in society. This is the age that young adults should be considering the issue. These parents who think it is not age appropriate are in another world. In case they don't know it, children are having sex on buses in grade school nowadays. If these people do not know that teenagers know all about sex, they are fooling themselves.
Its my own personal opinion that if you have a veiwpoint on a subject you should be open to debating and expeiriencing the counter veiw. It really, really urks me when a person can be so overwhelmingly closed-minded about anything, such as this case, as to deafen their childrens ears to the reality of such a crime. Im not saying, hey, lets let drag queens walk around and have gay guys fuck each other on stage, this is so much different. This is life, and this happens, and its not right, why not just let the public hear and see it, everyone has their opinions, think about it...what if seeing this play changed siomebodys mind and saved a life. Its possible. Broaden your horizons folks, were all people and were all her on this earth together, embrace diversity and be real.
Why in the world would you classify ALL parents as letting their kids watch violent TV and play violent video games?
Perhaps the parents who are opposing this play are the ones who DON'T subscribe to an "anything goes" philosophy with their youth. I for one, would oppose the play. Kids hear enough "yuck" talk and see enough violence just in the hallways of school. Kids can be taught respect for other people without having to view plays laden with inuendos, profanity, and violence. The problem with the violence against the homosexual community is the same problem we face in the violence against "anyone" in general. Parents and families are not teaching their children respect for ALL humans, despite the fact that you may not accept what they do. You can respect someone and not respect what they do. This is the message we need to hear, treat each other how you would want to be treated... not plays ,that in my opinion, cross the line.
My high school did "Hair" as our musical last year. Although we edited the song about sodomy out of the play, eveything else, the cursing, racial slurs and gay charecters and storylines, were all included in the play. We even made the evening news not because it was too "ris-kay", but because the students acted and presented the musical in a mature and tasteful manner. I was very proud of my community for not only allowing the musical to go on but supporting it tremendously.
It makes me really angry reading something like this. I feel so helpless and I wish I could do something to make people blind to sexual orientation. I'm not gay but I want so much to see a day where I can attend my gay classmates wedding. Or at the least, see 'The Laramie Project at that high school in Des Moines, Iowa.
No we never hear about "white, hetreo men" and "hate crimes" together I can't beleive you have forgotten the Jews under Hitler have your facts rigfht before you open your bigotted mouth.
Davidlpens@aol.com
David
Several hundred years ago my high school class did a play called "Cradle Song" it took place in a convent whose nuns took in an foundling child and raised her. Being a convent the sisters had to cross themselves at times. Well our local Fundie group(I can't even call them a church) objected to this and tried to use this as an excuse to get their type of Bible Study in thr school system, we had to cut out the crossing. as a side, their was only one Catholic in the cast , as majot role was a nun played by a local ministers daughter(not a Fundie)
Davidlpens@aol.com
David
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