Blog Archive
-
▼
2011
(523)
-
▼
April
(116)
- Oklahoma Gets Official State Gospel Song
- Quote Of The Day - Peter Sprigg
- NOM Signs Up For Diaz Rally
- Tony Perkins: Gay Activists Are Terrorists
- HomoQuotable -Jimmy LaSalvia
- Spike in searches causes Google to suggest “James ...
- Remembering the Admiral Duncan bombing 12 years on
- Interview: Richard ‘Biff’ Stannard, the man with t...
- Atlanta Braves coach accused of anti-gay slurs
- New Mexico school bans all clubs after gay-straigh...
- Gay US politician abandons plan for gay marriage t...
- US Marines begin training to accept gay soldiers
- Anger over Tennessee’s ‘don’t say gay’ bill
- Elton John’s mother speaks about rift
- Gay man beaten in homophobic south London attack
- San Francisco’s legendary gay bookshop to close
- Moscow gay pride parade now uncertain
- Last known gay holocaust survivor to receive Franc...
- Pakistan allows trans men and women their own gend...
- Horses killed in Midwestern barn fire in apparent ...
- Cary Grant’s daughter claims her father ‘enjoyed b...
- Maddow: Gay Anchors Should Come Out
- GOP Praises Paul Clement, Disses King & Spalding O...
- Prop 8 Proponents Move To Vacate Judge Vaughn Walk...
- Levi Johnston Readies Palin Tell-All
- Tony Perkins On King & Spalding
- Marriage Protest At Buckingham Palace
- PhoboQuotable - William Gheen
- MARYLAND: Hundreds Attend Rally Against Anti-Trans...
- Andrew Sullivan On King & Spaulding
- Gay former governor of New Jersey has bid for ordi...
- Rapper receives death threats over ‘I’m Gay’ album...
- Lesbian newsreader says gay men and women have a ‘...
- HomoQuotable - Greg Quinlan
- FLORIDA: Anti-Gay Group Launches MTV Boycott Over ...
- GOP Sen. John Ensign To Resign
- NEW YORK: Sen. Ruben Diaz To Stage Massive Anti-Ga...
- Updated: Lesbian couple sue Brighton hotel
- Man, 18, arrested over east London anti-gay stickers
- Thousands could leave Church of Scotland over gay ...
- Tennessee Senate panel approves school gay ban bill
- Interview: Peter Tatchell on a lifetime of campaig...
- Gay marriage rally at Buckingham Palace
- Antony Cotton ‘proud’ of Corrie gay parents story
- Theatre review: The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg
- Kate Middleton ‘a lesbian icon’
- 15 charges for US student in gay suicide case
- Father ‘killed lesbian daughter’s girlfriend and h...
- Gay HIV study to look at daily prevention pill
- Jewish LGBT group celebrates Passover with inclusi...
- Another US poll finds majority support for gay mar...
- Malaysia’s gay cure camp sparks anger
- Four of five main Scottish parties promise action ...
- US student charged for lying about anti-gay attack
- Derren Brown reveals he went to ‘gay cure’ church
- London transgender conference cancelled after tran...
- Prince William and Kate Middleton urged to support...
- Malaysia sends 66 boys to gay cure camp
- Hungary approves new ‘anti-gay’ constitution
- Evan Rachel Wood comes out as bisexual
- Irish trans woman wins £30,000 for discrimination
- Facebook apologises for removing gay kiss photo
- Gay stable-boy sexually harassed female manager
- Stonewall Cymru holds hustings for Welsh Assembly ...
- Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy composes royal weddi...
- Scottish Green Party leader tells of MSPs’ anti-ga...
- Gay men vote Nick Clegg ‘sexiest party leader’
- Facebook removes gay kiss photo for ‘being sexuall...
- Facebook removes gay kiss photo for ‘being sexuall...
- Brighton Pride announces ticket price concessions
- US study: Gay teen suicide risk higher in conserva...
- Basketball star Kobe Bryant fined $100,000 for ant...
- Photo Of The Day - Pink Thundersticks
- Frothy Mix To Glenn Beck: States Should Be Allowed...
- Hundreds protest outside John Snow pub that kicked...
- Bill could make gay history compulsory in Californ...
- Gay dads celebrate 21 years with plastic baby
- Soho pub closes to avoid gay kissing protest
- Rev Jesse Jackson denies harassing gay employee
- Drinker claims gay kissing couple were ‘over the top’
- Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe calls Britain ‘gay...
- HomoQuotable - Andrew Sullivan
- Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg Claims Pere...
- Kobe Bryant To Appeal "Faggot" Fine
- Quote Of The Day - Ben Cohen
- FLORIDA: Teabaggers To Host Trump
- The Verizon Guy Comes Out
- HIV charities surprised at gay blood ban reports
- Boy George: ‘Most gay men just want to fit in now’
- Gay soldier raises £4,000 for Stonewall
- Glee and Modern Family tie at GLAAD Media Awards
- EastEnders to have first gay civil partnership
- Lady Gaga tackles homophobic fan
- European parliament calls for special protection o...
- Gay blood donation ban to be lifted but only for m...
- Safe sex message for Attitude’s ‘naked issue’
- Academic who blamed fall of Roman Empire on gays u...
- Nepal’s gay MP: ‘Gandhi’s sexuality doesn’t matter’
- Newly-out gay MPs attend Stonewall Equality Dinner
- Gay man attacked at London cruising spot
-
▼
April
(116)
Tennessee Senate panel approves school gay ban bill
A Senate education panel in Tennessee has approved a bill to prevent students from learning about homosexuality in public elementary and middle schools.
The legislation, known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, was introduced by Republican Senator Stacey Campfield, who has been pushing for the law for several years.
As introduced by Mr Campfield, it would have banned all teachers up to the eighth grade from discussing homosexuality in class.
Another Republican Senator, Jim Tracy, argued that current law already prohibits this, as teachers may not teach any sex education that is not part of the state Board of Education’s “family life curriculum”.
Instead, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports that Mr Tracy proposed an amendment to the bill to require the Board of Education to investigate whether any teaching on homosexuality is taking place and to make recommendations on what should be done.
Another amendment, tabled by Republican Brian Kelsey, sought to place an explicit ban on teaching about homosexuality in the Board of Education’s standards once the review is completed next year.
Both amendments were approved and the revised bill passed by 6-3 votes. It will now go to the Senate floor.
The bill states: “No public elementary or middle school shall provide any instruction or material that discusses sexual orientation other than heterosexuality.”
The Tennessee Equality Project says the bill is objectionable on a number of levels.
Speaking last month, Ben Byers from the group said: “The Don’t Say Gay bill raises all kinds of issues about anti-gay bias, free speech and government overreach.
“It limits what teachers and students are able to discuss in the classroom. It means they can’t talk about gay issues or sexuality even with students who may be gay or have gay family.”
Mr Campfield’s office said: “The bill is neutral. We should leave it to families to decide when it is appropriate to talk with children about sexuality – specifically before the eighth grade.”
Similar legislation was introduced in the UK in 1988.
Section 28 of the Local Government Act prevented schoolteachers from educating children about homosexuality, and “the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”, but it was repealed in Scotland in 2000 and in the rest of the UK in 2003.