Anti-Gay Attitudes Persist Despite Progress In Society

By David GreenwaldFebruary 20, 200724 comments

Watching the recent events in Woodland unfold was a reminder both of how far we have come and how far we still have to go in this society in terms of attitudes toward gay people. I am not naive enough to expect people to accept gay marriage. I realize that there are strong religious and other forces working against that. On the other hand, I do not think it is too much to hope that if one is to oppose things like gay marriage based on religion that they nevertheless treat others with respect and dignity.

This moves us back full circle to the incident at Harper Junior High School that we have been covering since early November when the father Guy Fischer and the Principal David Inns first attended a Davis Human Relations Commission meeting.

Erika Chavez of the Sacramento Bee did a nice story on Sunday about the Fischer family whose son was the victim of harassment on the Harper Junior High School campus

It took the District awhile but under the Davis Joint Unified School Board has passed a series of changes to the discipline code to greatly improve it. Board President Jim Provenza who we previously praised for his work in forcing Superintendent Dave Murphy to make the language unequivocal, was quoted at length by the Sacramento Bee.

Davis district school board President Jim Provenza said the Fischer family’s allegations prompted revisions to the district wide anti-harassment policy.

“It was already a priority for us, but I think the incidents at the junior high demonstrated the urgency of that priority,” he said.

The anti-harassment policy is strategically focused on low-level incidents and clarified language regarding sexual orientation and gender, Provenza said.

“It’s easy to ignore the little things going on. Then when the big things happen, everybody’s surprised,” he said. “We are going to enforce standards of conduct that prevent that from occurring.”

I will say again, I think the district in the end made some very important changes and Provenza is absolutely correct that this incident demonstrated the urgency of the situation and forced action much quicker than it would have come without it. This is unfortunate, but it is the way things work sometimes.

What is unfortunate and frankly appalling are some of the comments made by readers of the Sacramento Bee web site: While it is unclear where these comments are coming from geographically, the comments themselves demonstrate strongly the need to continue to work to educate not only the students but the community as whole. This is a real wake up call to all of us, in my opinion.

Here are a couple examples of some of the worst (but unfortunately not all of it):

“These two “dads” need to grow thicker skin and teach their son to do the same. Kids are cruel. It’s a fact of life. Get over it. The truth is most people do not think that homosexual behavior is normal because, well, it isn’t. Not normal, not natural.”

“Grow a pair… Guy Fischer and his partner, Richard Carrillo should start acting like men. Having a hissy fit and threatening legal action to sanction their private (wait, no, it’s public now) sexual appetites is so sad.”

“This is not the schools fault, it is the two male parents fault for the lifestyle they chose and to raise a boy in this lifestyle. Also it is everyone’s right to speak their belief’s at any time (Freedom of Speech). To surpress this right is to harm everyone, not just one boy being raised by two fathers…”

“This pretty much sums up why gay couples need not raise children. Its pretty disgusting how they expect the rest of the world to accept their sinful behavior.”

These are just some of the comments but I think they illustrate a couple of key points.

First, I understand that there are people who believe that homosexuality is a sin. But just as we saw outside of the County Clerk’s office last week, there is a difference between a loving Christian response and a hateful bigoted response.

Second, there is a vast difference between someone expecting others to “accept their sinful behavior” and someone expecting their children not to be tormented by other students. There is also a legitimate expectation that when their kids are bullied and tormented by other students the teachers and district will do something about it. Neither of these have anything to do with accepting the “sinful” behavior of the parents. Rather they have everything to do with not accepting the misbehavior of students.

Third and finally, I do not think people really understand the nature of bullying. These comments were far too dismissive about it.

Here’s the article’s description of the actual incidents:

“What started as occasional muttered slurs, they contend, escalated into vicious name-calling, shoving and public ridicule.”

Even this statement does not give the full extent of some of the things that the son in this incident was actually exposed to. Frankly, most of those things have not been repeated here because they are too graphic, but perhaps they need to be in order for people to realize just how serious this is.

We all should commend Board President Jim Provenza and the rest of the board for the work they have done to improve the language of their discipline code. But what these comments tell me is that there is much work to be done in our community—realizing that a lot of the people who commented do not live in Davis—nevertheless, I think they are an adequate reflection of some of the Davis community as well. I have seen this first hand in the comments on the youtube videos, some of which were so bad, I had to delete them.

It is appalling. Frankly, I do not know what is worse—the homophobia or anti-gay statements or the appalling lack of concern for what a junior high school student is going through. But it seems pretty obvious why these types of incidents are so prevalent in our society—too many people think they are no big deal.

—Doug Paul Davis reporting

Author

  • David Greenwald

    Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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24 comments

  1. “how far we have come and how far we still have to go…”
    What’s interesting is that in a generation gay marriage and open homosexuality is likely to be pretty much a non-issue.
    A majority of Americans now states (for what that is worth) that they would actually vote for a gay President. Which puts gays above atheists in the public image:

    http://www.pollingreport.com/

    I realize this harassment is taking place among teenagers, but surveys show that the tolerance for gay-ness is highest among youth. I don’t know that you can ‘educate’ people out of bigotry. More school assemblies and curriculum won’t do anything except irritate the students (just ask your kids). So the key issue is simply the strong policy against harassment of any kind, which the school district has done in a surprisingly rapid manner, and then educating the people who implement it.

  2. “how far we have come and how far we still have to go…”
    What’s interesting is that in a generation gay marriage and open homosexuality is likely to be pretty much a non-issue.
    A majority of Americans now states (for what that is worth) that they would actually vote for a gay President. Which puts gays above atheists in the public image:

    http://www.pollingreport.com/

    I realize this harassment is taking place among teenagers, but surveys show that the tolerance for gay-ness is highest among youth. I don’t know that you can ‘educate’ people out of bigotry. More school assemblies and curriculum won’t do anything except irritate the students (just ask your kids). So the key issue is simply the strong policy against harassment of any kind, which the school district has done in a surprisingly rapid manner, and then educating the people who implement it.

  3. “how far we have come and how far we still have to go…”
    What’s interesting is that in a generation gay marriage and open homosexuality is likely to be pretty much a non-issue.
    A majority of Americans now states (for what that is worth) that they would actually vote for a gay President. Which puts gays above atheists in the public image:

    http://www.pollingreport.com/

    I realize this harassment is taking place among teenagers, but surveys show that the tolerance for gay-ness is highest among youth. I don’t know that you can ‘educate’ people out of bigotry. More school assemblies and curriculum won’t do anything except irritate the students (just ask your kids). So the key issue is simply the strong policy against harassment of any kind, which the school district has done in a surprisingly rapid manner, and then educating the people who implement it.

  4. “how far we have come and how far we still have to go…”
    What’s interesting is that in a generation gay marriage and open homosexuality is likely to be pretty much a non-issue.
    A majority of Americans now states (for what that is worth) that they would actually vote for a gay President. Which puts gays above atheists in the public image:

    http://www.pollingreport.com/

    I realize this harassment is taking place among teenagers, but surveys show that the tolerance for gay-ness is highest among youth. I don’t know that you can ‘educate’ people out of bigotry. More school assemblies and curriculum won’t do anything except irritate the students (just ask your kids). So the key issue is simply the strong policy against harassment of any kind, which the school district has done in a surprisingly rapid manner, and then educating the people who implement it.

  5. I applaud Guy Fischer and Richard Carrillo as parents for having the courage to NOT tell their son, “it’s the way of the world…have thick skin.” It takes people such as these two men who are dedicated fathers to speak up when injustices occur.

    20 plus years ago there was not enough people speaking up when Thong Hy Huynh was harassed by a group of students simply because he was Vietnamese. The constant harassing and taunting and fights eventually led to Thong being stabbed and killed. It was needless and could have been avoided if there was no tolerance for this at the school.

    I also applaud Zach, as a student, for having the courage to speak up and do something about it. Many students wouldn’t have the courage to speak up for fear of retaliation.

    And lastly, I applaud Jim Provenza and other members of the Davis Joint Unified School Board for making these much needed series of changes to the discipline code.

    Years ago we had a number of students and parents show up at a series of Human Relations Commission (HRC) meetings because they were frustrated that their children were being bullied for either real or perceived sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, or some other reason. They had no luck in meeting with Superintendent David Murphy and were frustrated, so they came to the HRC.

    A colleague and I met with Superintendent David Murphy over a series of months assisting him and sharing with him the need to make changes to the discipline code. A few minor changes were made, but no significant changes occurred.

    Guy Fischer, Richard Carrillo, their son Zach, School Board President Jim Provenza and fellow DJUSD School Board Members have one thing in common that we can all learn from: they all had the courage to speak up, voice a problem, and make firm and significant policy changes that will address a long-standing problem within DJUSD.

  6. I applaud Guy Fischer and Richard Carrillo as parents for having the courage to NOT tell their son, “it’s the way of the world…have thick skin.” It takes people such as these two men who are dedicated fathers to speak up when injustices occur.

    20 plus years ago there was not enough people speaking up when Thong Hy Huynh was harassed by a group of students simply because he was Vietnamese. The constant harassing and taunting and fights eventually led to Thong being stabbed and killed. It was needless and could have been avoided if there was no tolerance for this at the school.

    I also applaud Zach, as a student, for having the courage to speak up and do something about it. Many students wouldn’t have the courage to speak up for fear of retaliation.

    And lastly, I applaud Jim Provenza and other members of the Davis Joint Unified School Board for making these much needed series of changes to the discipline code.

    Years ago we had a number of students and parents show up at a series of Human Relations Commission (HRC) meetings because they were frustrated that their children were being bullied for either real or perceived sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, or some other reason. They had no luck in meeting with Superintendent David Murphy and were frustrated, so they came to the HRC.

    A colleague and I met with Superintendent David Murphy over a series of months assisting him and sharing with him the need to make changes to the discipline code. A few minor changes were made, but no significant changes occurred.

    Guy Fischer, Richard Carrillo, their son Zach, School Board President Jim Provenza and fellow DJUSD School Board Members have one thing in common that we can all learn from: they all had the courage to speak up, voice a problem, and make firm and significant policy changes that will address a long-standing problem within DJUSD.

  7. I applaud Guy Fischer and Richard Carrillo as parents for having the courage to NOT tell their son, “it’s the way of the world…have thick skin.” It takes people such as these two men who are dedicated fathers to speak up when injustices occur.

    20 plus years ago there was not enough people speaking up when Thong Hy Huynh was harassed by a group of students simply because he was Vietnamese. The constant harassing and taunting and fights eventually led to Thong being stabbed and killed. It was needless and could have been avoided if there was no tolerance for this at the school.

    I also applaud Zach, as a student, for having the courage to speak up and do something about it. Many students wouldn’t have the courage to speak up for fear of retaliation.

    And lastly, I applaud Jim Provenza and other members of the Davis Joint Unified School Board for making these much needed series of changes to the discipline code.

    Years ago we had a number of students and parents show up at a series of Human Relations Commission (HRC) meetings because they were frustrated that their children were being bullied for either real or perceived sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, or some other reason. They had no luck in meeting with Superintendent David Murphy and were frustrated, so they came to the HRC.

    A colleague and I met with Superintendent David Murphy over a series of months assisting him and sharing with him the need to make changes to the discipline code. A few minor changes were made, but no significant changes occurred.

    Guy Fischer, Richard Carrillo, their son Zach, School Board President Jim Provenza and fellow DJUSD School Board Members have one thing in common that we can all learn from: they all had the courage to speak up, voice a problem, and make firm and significant policy changes that will address a long-standing problem within DJUSD.

  8. I applaud Guy Fischer and Richard Carrillo as parents for having the courage to NOT tell their son, “it’s the way of the world…have thick skin.” It takes people such as these two men who are dedicated fathers to speak up when injustices occur.

    20 plus years ago there was not enough people speaking up when Thong Hy Huynh was harassed by a group of students simply because he was Vietnamese. The constant harassing and taunting and fights eventually led to Thong being stabbed and killed. It was needless and could have been avoided if there was no tolerance for this at the school.

    I also applaud Zach, as a student, for having the courage to speak up and do something about it. Many students wouldn’t have the courage to speak up for fear of retaliation.

    And lastly, I applaud Jim Provenza and other members of the Davis Joint Unified School Board for making these much needed series of changes to the discipline code.

    Years ago we had a number of students and parents show up at a series of Human Relations Commission (HRC) meetings because they were frustrated that their children were being bullied for either real or perceived sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, or some other reason. They had no luck in meeting with Superintendent David Murphy and were frustrated, so they came to the HRC.

    A colleague and I met with Superintendent David Murphy over a series of months assisting him and sharing with him the need to make changes to the discipline code. A few minor changes were made, but no significant changes occurred.

    Guy Fischer, Richard Carrillo, their son Zach, School Board President Jim Provenza and fellow DJUSD School Board Members have one thing in common that we can all learn from: they all had the courage to speak up, voice a problem, and make firm and significant policy changes that will address a long-standing problem within DJUSD.

  9. Don:

    I strongly agree with you on several points. First, that this will be a non-issue in a generation. Kids these days are raised and growing up knowing gay people. So a lot of the stereotypes of the past are less salient.

    Second, I fully agree with you that school assemblies are not the answer–that is one of the reasons I was so critical of the district early on.

    Third, the school district led by strong leadership from people like Jim Provenza but also Keltie Jones and Sheila Allen was very quick to respond and I think they have moved this to where it needs to be.

  10. Don:

    I strongly agree with you on several points. First, that this will be a non-issue in a generation. Kids these days are raised and growing up knowing gay people. So a lot of the stereotypes of the past are less salient.

    Second, I fully agree with you that school assemblies are not the answer–that is one of the reasons I was so critical of the district early on.

    Third, the school district led by strong leadership from people like Jim Provenza but also Keltie Jones and Sheila Allen was very quick to respond and I think they have moved this to where it needs to be.

  11. Don:

    I strongly agree with you on several points. First, that this will be a non-issue in a generation. Kids these days are raised and growing up knowing gay people. So a lot of the stereotypes of the past are less salient.

    Second, I fully agree with you that school assemblies are not the answer–that is one of the reasons I was so critical of the district early on.

    Third, the school district led by strong leadership from people like Jim Provenza but also Keltie Jones and Sheila Allen was very quick to respond and I think they have moved this to where it needs to be.

  12. Don:

    I strongly agree with you on several points. First, that this will be a non-issue in a generation. Kids these days are raised and growing up knowing gay people. So a lot of the stereotypes of the past are less salient.

    Second, I fully agree with you that school assemblies are not the answer–that is one of the reasons I was so critical of the district early on.

    Third, the school district led by strong leadership from people like Jim Provenza but also Keltie Jones and Sheila Allen was very quick to respond and I think they have moved this to where it needs to be.

  13. Get the problem out there, “engage” the community don’t be afraid of some controversy and this town(and its people) respond in a manner that is pretty special. Let’s see if it also is true with regard to some “corrective measures” in our police department.

  14. Get the problem out there, “engage” the community don’t be afraid of some controversy and this town(and its people) respond in a manner that is pretty special. Let’s see if it also is true with regard to some “corrective measures” in our police department.

  15. Get the problem out there, “engage” the community don’t be afraid of some controversy and this town(and its people) respond in a manner that is pretty special. Let’s see if it also is true with regard to some “corrective measures” in our police department.

  16. Get the problem out there, “engage” the community don’t be afraid of some controversy and this town(and its people) respond in a manner that is pretty special. Let’s see if it also is true with regard to some “corrective measures” in our police department.

  17. My thoughts are the same Davisite. I too am hoping that the same can happen with our police department. We need to engage the public and have ongoing dialogue. Disagreements labeled as controvery are only a bad thing when people stop talking.

  18. My thoughts are the same Davisite. I too am hoping that the same can happen with our police department. We need to engage the public and have ongoing dialogue. Disagreements labeled as controvery are only a bad thing when people stop talking.

  19. My thoughts are the same Davisite. I too am hoping that the same can happen with our police department. We need to engage the public and have ongoing dialogue. Disagreements labeled as controvery are only a bad thing when people stop talking.

  20. My thoughts are the same Davisite. I too am hoping that the same can happen with our police department. We need to engage the public and have ongoing dialogue. Disagreements labeled as controvery are only a bad thing when people stop talking.

  21. If you want to “sell” an anti bullying program, the program should do two things-

    First, it should cover all forms of bullying, rather than trying to cover only specific types of bullying.

    Second, the program should start very early – no later than first or second grade because that is when the roots start growing.

    My daughter teaches third grade in a public elementary school on the Stanford campus (part of the PA School District). She has a little boy in her classroom who has been picked on for cutting his hair. The hair used to fall over his eyes but recently the hair was cut by his parents to “prevent him from hiding from the world”. A group of third grade girls from another class started to pick on this child over his short hair – the bullying lasted for several weeks and included some hitting. The child ended up with bruises on his head (from punches) and bruises on his legs (from kicks). This had nothing to do with race, religion or gender – just meaness.
    Substantial effort went into stopping the abuse through one on one discussions with the third graders and meetings with all of the parents. Kids find all sorts of reasons to be mean to each other. None of the reasons are good.

    My intention is not to diminish the issue being discussed, but to simply add to the bigger picture.SAH

  22. If you want to “sell” an anti bullying program, the program should do two things-

    First, it should cover all forms of bullying, rather than trying to cover only specific types of bullying.

    Second, the program should start very early – no later than first or second grade because that is when the roots start growing.

    My daughter teaches third grade in a public elementary school on the Stanford campus (part of the PA School District). She has a little boy in her classroom who has been picked on for cutting his hair. The hair used to fall over his eyes but recently the hair was cut by his parents to “prevent him from hiding from the world”. A group of third grade girls from another class started to pick on this child over his short hair – the bullying lasted for several weeks and included some hitting. The child ended up with bruises on his head (from punches) and bruises on his legs (from kicks). This had nothing to do with race, religion or gender – just meaness.
    Substantial effort went into stopping the abuse through one on one discussions with the third graders and meetings with all of the parents. Kids find all sorts of reasons to be mean to each other. None of the reasons are good.

    My intention is not to diminish the issue being discussed, but to simply add to the bigger picture.SAH

  23. If you want to “sell” an anti bullying program, the program should do two things-

    First, it should cover all forms of bullying, rather than trying to cover only specific types of bullying.

    Second, the program should start very early – no later than first or second grade because that is when the roots start growing.

    My daughter teaches third grade in a public elementary school on the Stanford campus (part of the PA School District). She has a little boy in her classroom who has been picked on for cutting his hair. The hair used to fall over his eyes but recently the hair was cut by his parents to “prevent him from hiding from the world”. A group of third grade girls from another class started to pick on this child over his short hair – the bullying lasted for several weeks and included some hitting. The child ended up with bruises on his head (from punches) and bruises on his legs (from kicks). This had nothing to do with race, religion or gender – just meaness.
    Substantial effort went into stopping the abuse through one on one discussions with the third graders and meetings with all of the parents. Kids find all sorts of reasons to be mean to each other. None of the reasons are good.

    My intention is not to diminish the issue being discussed, but to simply add to the bigger picture.SAH

  24. If you want to “sell” an anti bullying program, the program should do two things-

    First, it should cover all forms of bullying, rather than trying to cover only specific types of bullying.

    Second, the program should start very early – no later than first or second grade because that is when the roots start growing.

    My daughter teaches third grade in a public elementary school on the Stanford campus (part of the PA School District). She has a little boy in her classroom who has been picked on for cutting his hair. The hair used to fall over his eyes but recently the hair was cut by his parents to “prevent him from hiding from the world”. A group of third grade girls from another class started to pick on this child over his short hair – the bullying lasted for several weeks and included some hitting. The child ended up with bruises on his head (from punches) and bruises on his legs (from kicks). This had nothing to do with race, religion or gender – just meaness.
    Substantial effort went into stopping the abuse through one on one discussions with the third graders and meetings with all of the parents. Kids find all sorts of reasons to be mean to each other. None of the reasons are good.

    My intention is not to diminish the issue being discussed, but to simply add to the bigger picture.SAH

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