People need to "chill"

Have you ever notice how up-tight people are these days? I've been trying to figure out and pin point when all of that happened. It seems to me that ever since 9/11, things have been a bit different in this country. Not only are we now more "vigilant", it seems that we have less time for each other; less time for understanding and less time to be compassionate to our fellow man.

That's why, when I come home at night, it's pure "family time". I do what I like to do for hobbies, such as photography and the like, but my main focus is my family and my friends. Work has it's place, and it is a rare occasion that work enters my home. That's me. I'm still working on Kent about that. He constantly brings work home because, well, he let's people walk on him (in my opinion).

I read a story about a gay teacher in California who went to San Francisco to marry his partner. The teacher, Ron Fanelle, teaches seventh and eighth graders.

Fanelle married his partner of 15 years, Randy Serak, on Valentine’s Day. His Monte Vista Middle School colleagues, including principal Sara Davis, knew he was gay and had gotten married and they congratulated him at a staff meeting.

A teacher told her students about the marriage and word spread quickly through the school.

The mistake was for the teacher to tell her students in the first place. Why would she do that? Perhaps she felt that in this day and age, people would understand. That was naive on her part. At any rate, rumors quickly spread throughout the school that Mr. Fanelle had gotten married. Of course, kids being the curious creatures that they are, asked Mr. Fanelle point blank about it.

"The kids walked in and there was a buzz about it," Fanelle said. "They said, 'We heard you got married on Valentine’s Day. Is it true?' I said, 'Yes.' They asked, 'Was it a man?' I said, 'Yes.' Then they gave me a standing ovation." The students then asked about his partner.

"I said, 'His name is Randy. It was a beautiful wedding. Any other questions?'", Fanelle said.

A male student began muttering negative comments under his breath, Fanelle said, so he read aloud the sexual harassment code in a student handbook. He also used the opportunity to talk about suffrage, bigotry and the Magna Carta.

Mr. Fanelle handled the situation perfectly. He was honest with his students. They would not have accepted anything less. What is interesting is the way he handled the situation of negative comments - brilliant by incorporating the history of intolerance into the daily lesson!

It's a bit amazing to me that parents (not all parents, but many) are so out of date with what kids are going through these days. Many of their children's peers are gay and are totally out. To them, it's really not a big deal, but just one more thing out of their day.

I'm constantly reading about how the younger generation is more tolerant to gays and gay marriage.

On Same-Sex Marriage, Young People Are More Tolerant Than Their Elders

Perhaps the best evidence that support of same-sex marriage is largely generational came three weeks ago when the Baylor University newspaper, The Lariat, offered its editorial supporting the mayor of San Francisco's decision to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

Naturally, the administration of the largest Baptist university in the world was not happy. The university president's response was in The Lariat a few days later, as was another from the student publications board, admonishing the newspaper staff for the editorial. The statements also assured trustees and alumni that "the guidelines have been reviewed with The Lariat staff, so that they will be able to avoid this error in the future."

It's funny what a small world we live in. It wasn't so long ago that Baylor University was interested in Kent and wanted to recruit him for a job. We immediately dismissed it without consideration. Why should we put up with their attitudes about gays when we don't have to?

I suppose we should have made it clear to them why they were being dismissed (besides being in a dusty, hot, God-forsaken place), but it would have made no difference. They would have simply dismissed it as, "Oh he's a gay. We don't want him...", and not even questioned their own recruiting methods.

I suppose the biggest issue is that by having those attitudes, they are missing out on opportunities to attract the best and the brightest to their school (again, not our problem). That's one of the prices you pay to hold on to bigotry. It always has a price tag with very few winners.