How do you feel about debating gay rights in school?

If people aren't allowed to have an offensive opinion which to you is gay rights are wrong then it isn't a debate anymore

 

This seems to be a big failure of the teacher. As you acknowledged, the teacher did not address the subject that there could be LGBT students in the class. This therefore caused a situation that made you as a student feel uncomfortable. To not have completely addressed the issue and have the appropriate understanding that yes, maybe some of the students in the class are LGBT or questioning was a MAJOR "oversight" of this teacher. The problem was not with the debate itself, but the lack of sensitivity with which the debate was conducted, which caused an open airing of offensive views rather than a constructive debate. If I'm right, you were afraid to say anything. Yet another reason why we need LGBT groups in schools to advance the idea, in some cases, that LGBT students even EXIST and should be acknowledged.

 

I never talk about it to anybody, people might 'suspect' me... And also there's not much to debate anymore so there's no reason to debate LGBT rights.

 

I try to stand up for anything that I believe is worth fighting for. I have stood up for LGBT+ rights in school/college several times, as well as standing for other people who are opressed for whatever reason.

 

Apart from being enshrined into school policy, I think the very few students at my school who might be against LGBT rights (I don't actually know any confirmed cases) would feel quite uncomfortable and certainly outnumbered.

Last year in ethics we touched on same-sex marriage and adoption and the discussion was over in a matter of a few minutes because we were all convinced that, under the framework of a secular society with a commitment to egalitarianism, there are no compelling reason to curtail LGBT rights. The discussion became constructive when we turned to discussing the extent to which it is justifiable for westerners to advocate for LGBT rights in a country like Pakistan. There is an actual point of reasonable contention there, even if I'm not usually a big fan of cultural relativism.

A lot of the most controversial issues with LGBT rights are also the most dumbfoundingly obvious ones.

 

I think debates are fine, but they should be somewhat moderated so people don't say that they think all gay people should die or something.

 

Well.. I think it's always been like that. People don't tend to realise that there may be gay people in the room. The only gay rights issue I've ever discussed was on IVF in RS where we had to order from one to six who was the most deserving of receiving IVF services/treatment and who was the least deserving. Interestingly overall the class chose the lesbian couple to be the most deserving.

I mean homophobic language and slurs in classrooms are used pretty much every second sentence/word where I'm from. But then again people have said stuff against left handers in class as well, but I tend to just look at them with all my left-handed sinisterness and they stop. :lol: And don't get me started with racism.

My science teacher who was also my sex ed teacher certainly didn't think about the fact that there might be gay people in the room when someone asked about gay safe-sex and his response was basically "gay sex is unnecessary/pointless, so if you can help it, don't". :bang:

 

The topic never arose at my school.

 

the rights of others shouldn't be debatable. my teacher did this in 7th grade, when i was coming to terms with my sexuality, and, thankfully everyone was for our rights, but, when she brought it up i was terrified that my classmates may not like me for just existing. anyway, basic human rights should not be debatable. bottom line.

 

We never debated "gay rights" at my school but we have talked about the marriage equality ruling this year. The teachers at my school are SUPER accepting and my History teacher acknowledged the fact that there might be LGBT people in the room. My English teacher also brings up the topic every so often because it gets mentioned a bit in a book we're reading. She's a really awesome teacher and she's thinking of starting a sort of middle school version of a GSA.

 

I'd avoid debating with anyone who's vehemently against gay rights, it's nothing but a frustrating waste of energy. Though if you manage to befriend one of them or give them cause to rely on you in some way you can use it to illustrate the ignorant hypocrisy in their views later on.

It's more productive to focus on helping victims of the homophobia (if there are any) and if you must debate then chose someone who's on the fence because unlike with a devout conservative there is a chance your words will actually make a difference

 

That sucks big time, gay rights are a huge topical issue across the globe just now and everyone has an opinion on it. I'm not out to many people at my uni yet I still draw parallels or talk directly about gay rights in lectures and it's taken on board, I may be the only LGBT person in my class but everyone there knows at least one LGBT friend.

 

Sometimes I wonder why the very basic rights of gay people, or just LGBT+ folks in general, should even have to be debated, but unfortunately the stark reality is that it's still an issue- and for that reason some teachers or schools find it "progressive" to have a huge class discussion about whether or not gay people should be treated as people whilst simultaneously acting like there aren't any gay/otherwise LGBT+ people in the class. I'm sure there always is (apart from me), but most act like we're talking about some kind of far away, foreign issue that has no relevance to anyone in this classroom. I'm not even certain if being closeted is beneficial in these scenarios or not. I can imagine being the only out gay kid in class and having everyone swivel their attention towards you as soon as anything LGBT+ is mentioned.

I think having people argue over whether gay people should be granted basic rights (in other words, whether some people sitting right in front of you should be granted even the most basic of respect), just in the name of a healthy debate, is way more harmful than it is beneficial. There are plenty of other issues to debate about if you want students to engage in healthy discussion. I can think of at least three off the top of my tired head right now.

This isn't about gay rights as much, but a few months back in a lecture people thought it was fun to debate about and discuss trans issues, and it was less a fun progressive atmosphere, more one of people being doubtful, ignorant, and throwing around frankly quite offensive jokes, and the teacher fully participated and initiated the discussion. It wasn't exactly a debate, just an "intellectual discussion of this issue" in that one hour class that lasted exactly one hour too long. All in all in that class, specifically on that day, it felt to me through their tone that they were debating some kind of thereotical foreign idea rather than the rights and identities of actual human beings. Needless to say, it was an incredibly uncomfortable hour for me.

 

In my country you wouldn't get a debate about LGBT rights at school because they like sticking to the facts and because discriminatory comments are actually illegal but I think those kind of debate should be regulated.

It's okay for people to be against gay, well or at least to have that opinion, but it's not okay to be disrespectful and name calling others because they don't have the same beliefs or opinions (it goes both way though). I always hate when I see close minded people trying to justify their homophobia but I respect their right to do so and simply point out the mistakes in their reasoning.

 

He pretty much hit the nail on the head.

---------- Post added 15th Oct 2015 at 11:11 AM ----------

Oh sure there is, there's still plenty to debate, just because we solved one issue doesn't solve them all.

 

It will be a farse. As the OP said the conservative school pretended that there were no lgbt students present and students in opposition to gay rights were allowed to say whatever they wanted. That's not a debate, that's T-ing up one side. I think it would go similarly in a liberal progressive school and you would have religious people being bashed with no real representation. Did this school also debate other minority rights?

 

Isn't the right to an opinion on other people's "basic human rights", a basic human right in itself?

 

Of course I can get offended by what someone says, but I won't tell them they can't say it. No one should dictate what can be said and what cannot, of course if someone starts yelling "faggot" I might just punch them in their stupid face. However in most cases I think the best way to approach someone that is homophobic in a debate is to just come up with better arguments than they have. Which isn't that hard. And unless they are bible thumpers, in which case I will just leave before I want to give my frontal cortex a good banging against something hard, I don't think it is that hard to convince someone that they are wrong about the LGBT. Or at least make them consider that they might be wrong. Most people who aren't religious who think being gay is wrong, often believe so because they are ignorant on the topic.

If you are in an area where gay people are looked down upon (cus' religion) it might be very hard to discuss such matters in a classroom, since you can feel like the "odd one out". It is very difficult to stand up against a whole class of 20+ students when you are all alone.

In eiher case I think gay rights should be debated, but I think a lot of schools, at least in the U.S., would intentionally make the debate angled to their benefit. It is important that the debate is on equal ground and that the school is able to stay neutral.

 

Sorry to take this thread slightly off track, but I always feel like this when gender equality and sexism is mentioned. I'm the only girl in my class (although there is another girl moving to our class soon) and whenever the teacher talks about women's roles in history everyone looks at me. It's really awkward.