homosexuality=contagious?

Dennis Carlson, Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community

Carlson's Argument:
Carlson argues that public schools have a large part in rebuilding a multicultural community, in which sexuality is recognized and the silence is broken.

Quotes:

• In Carlson's argument he talks about a broken silence about sexual orientation. On page 237, Carlson references Willard Waller. Waller wrote The Sociology of Teaching, in 1932. In it he argues that homosexuality is contagious! Ridiculous, I know, but I didn't say it, Willard did. "He argued that homosexual teachers represented a danger to their students...certain [that] homosexuality is contagious". I chose this specific quote because it give some sort of voice towards homosexuality. It may not be a positive one that I agree with, but it is a start. The silence is broken.
• "In the late 1940s and early 1950s, homosexuality and communism were closely linked as threats to the 'American way of life'" (Carlson 237). So, now we have homosexuality as being contagious and threatening to the great American people. Given the time period when this was thought of, I can see where they were coming from. WWII had just ended and a Cold War had Brewed. Everyone had to watch their backs, people who seemed different from the SCWAAMP concept, were thought of as a threat.
• "These abuses get tolerated because gay teachers and students operate in an environment where they feel afraid to stand up for themselves" (Carlson 239). Homosexuals in our society are often teased, made fun of, beaten, and even killed. The "don't ask, don't tell" policy started by our military is very important because if no one knows your gay, you run the chance of not getting abused. I mean, how can one person stand up for every homosexual in our society? They can't. They know that nothing is going to change, so they tolerate this abuse. It is probably hard to find a dominant voice where you know no one is going to listen.

Comments:

I thought that it was funny to read some of the ideas formulated by people throughout the 1930s through 50s. The idea of homosexuality being contagious was ludicrous. Some of these ideas were far to crazy for me to fathom.

I feel like this article relates to Secondary Ed. teachers. Early and Elementary Ed. teachers should not have to worry about this. Middle and High schoolers are the ones to worry about. They harshly tease each other, but imagine if they found out their teacher was gay or a lesbian? The harassment would never end. Also, the curriculum in the younger grades seems to be neutral--there is no sexuality, besides the heterosexual mother and father combo. Most of the kids in these younger grades seem to think that the opposite sex has cooties anyway. When you get to the older grades, the students start to have more opinions of the world and our society.

***This article seemed the same as all the others, illustrating the idea of the privileged class. I'm wondering when people are going to realize this idea and fix the injustice made to those who have barely none, if any, privilege. ***