Some group is staging a protest outside our high school today at 2:30. They are protesting the gay/straight student alliance organization (Spectrum) we have on campus. The response from our principal to the faculty is simply ignore them. Don't give them the attention they want. It's a rather diplomatic response and I appreciate it.
It's amazing how my opinions on this issue have developed over the course of a few years. Many well-meaning people assume a disciple of the Son of God/Son of Man Jesus Christ would clearly be opposed to homosexuals. I'm not. On the whole, I believe sexuality and sexual norms are a cultural construct. Within any given group or society, some behavior is deemed more appropriate than other behavior. For any particular group to critique "deviant" behavior for another group makes me uncomfortable-- particularly if the behavior exists within a mutual, consenting, convenant relationship. When sexual behavior is forced, abusive, and outside of an agreed convenant-- I have problems with this-- whether heterosexual or homosexual. I have a problem with co-dependent, emotionally reckless relationships. I have a problem with self-centered, self-serving superficial relationships.
Love is the higher law. From my own observation, the people who protest homosexuality do so with an overwhelming sense bitterness, fear, and hatred. How could I align myself with such people, even if they are Christian?
Should there be a gay/straight organization on the campus of a public school? If it is student run (which it is), I applaud any efforts to create dialogue on an issue of concern for teenagers attempting to understand their own identity.
High school is no longer just a place of learning. It's a political warzone. As a teacher, I'm not here to tell my students what to think. I want them to think for themselves, and if they disagree with me in the process-- that's okay.