Let's Stuff Gay People In The Closet!
The government, in the person of the new secretary of "education," comes out against gay people; namely portraying them on TV in (gasp!) typical American family circumstances. Oooh, hide them away before the children immolate at the mere sight of them! (Um...on a blog comments note...anybody who posts here who has argued that the theocons are not shoving religion into government is now hereby ordered to eat their mouse pad.)

The nation's new education secretary denounced PBS on Tuesday for spending public money on a cartoon with lesbian characters, saying many parents would not want children exposed to such lifestyles.

The not-yet-aired episode of "Postcards From Buster" shows the title character, an animated bunny named Buster, on a trip to Vermont -- a state known for recognizing same-sex civil unions. The episode features two lesbian couples, although the focus is on farm life and maple sugaring.

A PBS spokesman said late Tuesday that the nonprofit network has decided not to distribute the episode, called "Sugartime!," to its 349 stations. She said the Education Department's objections were not a factor in that decision.

"Ultimately, our decision was based on the fact that we recognize this is a sensitive issue, and we wanted to make sure that parents had an opportunity to introduce this subject to their children in their own time," said Lea Sloan, vice president of media relations at PBS.

Yeah, right. Clearly the "education" secretary has never met any gay parents, and thus pictures them running off to the Gay Day Parade in leashes and loinclothes in their "baby-on-board" minivan, then running through the crowd half-naked...except for the babies in their backpacks. Everyone, repeat after me: "Yeah, right."

Then, read another take on what's being banned, from Suzanne C. Ryan and Mark Shanahan at the Boston Globe:

Karen Pike agreed to be a part of a children's show about families, and now she feels she's under attack.

This week, the new US secretary of education, Margaret Spellings, denounced PBS for spending public funds to tape an episode of a children's program that features Pike, a lesbian, her partner, Gillian Pieper, and their 11-year-old daughter, Emma. The installment of ''Postcards From Buster," which is produced locally at WGBH-TV (Channel 2) and which had been scheduled to air March 23, was promptly dropped by PBS, which is refusing to distribute the footage to its 349 member stations.

''It makes me sick," said Pike, a 42-year-old photographer in Hinesburg, Vt., who united with Pieper in a civil union in 2001. ''I'm actually aghast at the hatred stemming from such an important person in our government. . . . Her first official act was to denounce my family, and to denounce PBS for putting on a program that shows my family as loving, moral, and committed."

FYI, if any frightened theocons are reading this blog, here's a bit of news for you: Homosexual parents are just as boring as heterosexual parents. We, who are not parents (and who are thrilled with our barrenness), tend think of them -- all parents, homo and hetero -- as post-interesting and post-stylish...at least, in part. I might support the right to marry for all people (and without the "Do you fuck 'correctly'?" test), but I still think it's a really dumb idea to sentence yourself to forever with anybody, no matter whether you're into the same or the opposite sex.

Next, on the stupidity agenda is the case of the girl journalist who's getting forced out of her high school newspaper for profiling three gay students. Now, she was not outing this trio. She interviewed them. With their permission and knowledge that the interviews would run in the paper. Joel Rubin writes in the LA Times:

Howell (deputy superintendent for the Fullerton Joint Union High School District), who wouldn't discuss Long by name, said district and school officials did not object to the story's content. She said Long, 18, was being punished for violating the ethical standards of the journalism class and a state education code that prohibits asking students about their sexuality without parental permission.

"We're not saying there is anything morally wrong with the article," she said. "Freedom of speech is not at issue. Confidentiality and privacy rights are the issue."

It is a position that has left Long defiant and legal experts contending that the state law applies to faculty but not students.

"I don't think I've done anything that merits me stepping down," said Long, who vowed not to surrender her position. "Perhaps I should have called the parents to interview them for the story, but I don't feel like I should have been obligated to get their permission to write it. These students chose to talk to me."

At issue is a Dec. 17 article that chronicled the decisions of three students — two 18-year-olds and a 15-year-old — to reveal their homosexuality and bisexuality to family and friends. All three spoke to Long knowing their names would be used.

According to Long, her journalism teacher, Georgette Cerrutti, worked closely with her on drafts of the article for more than a month, at one point discussing with her the impact it might have on the students' families.

Long said Cerrutti never told her she needed to get the parents' approval.

On Monday, Long said, she was summoned to D'Amelia's office, where he and Cerrutti admonished her for not seeking the parents' permission.

"He told me I either had to resign and make an example of myself for failing to do my job," Long said of D'Amelia, "or that I would be removed."

In meetings Tuesday with Long's parents, D'Amelia and Troy Principal Chuck Maruca reaffirmed the school's stance, Long and her mother said.

Maruca and Cerrutti did not return calls seeking comment.

Howell said journalism students are taught to be cautious when writing stories that address other students' private lives. She said Long had violated the section of the California education code that requires written parental permission before asking students questions about their or their parents' "personal beliefs or practices in sex, family life, morality, and religion," as the code states.

Um, excuse me, but when I was in high school journalism class, we were told that that First Amendment thingie applied...even to us. Here I am, sneaking into the LA Times editorial page, to weigh in on the issue:

Something tells me nobody's ever gotten canned for identifying a student as heterosexual.

Amy Alkon
Santa Monica

Am I crazy, or does this country get increasingly less modern every day? By July, they'll be burning me at the stake. Please, somebody remind me to keep stocked up on marshmallows.