So today while I was at the middle school that I am helping out in their production of Peter Pan, I cam across this discarded survey. It was entitled "Same Sex Marriage Interview Questions" It was a questionnaire/survey that was created by one of the students we will call her Jane (not real name) The person answering was a female.
Q. Would a gay marriage in you family effect you?
A. Maybe a little bit, everyone can make their own decisions, but I don't agree with their choice.
Q. Would you support your friend's realization of their sexuality if they came out to you?
A. I would not support them, but I would not discard them as my friend. I would appreciate them for who they are.
Q. Are you offended when people use the term "gay"?
A. No, not usually. It is said all the time.
Q.Do you believe that homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals?
A. Not all. I don't think homosexuals should be allowed to have kids or be considered being "married"
Q. If later on you realize you are a homosexual do you think your opinion would change?
A. Maybe, I don't plan on becoming a homosexual.
K so first off the fact that this is in our middle schools makes me kind of proud of America. The fact that a student could confidently make such a survey is wonderful. This school was the same one I went to and it is amazing to see how far they have come, and how close they still are to the homophobia that was present when I attended 8 years ago.
So the first question about a gay marriage in your family effecting you, A. maybe a little bit. This response is so great! the fact that this 7th or 8th grader in Mormon town thinks that a gay marriage would only effect them a little, this is so wonderful!
The second question is my type of answer, rather dichotomous, but it represents a long way from my day when I would have been shunned by my friends.
Fourth question ;( I look at my gay friends, both MOMs and Partnerships and think that no kids or marriage for them would be horrendous. granted I am biased, but at least she wouldn't be opposed to giving us any rights.
Final question provides the title of this post. Were any of us really "planning" on becoming a homosexual? I know that I didn't, but if that were such a possibility, which in an odd way it is (not to actually plan to become one, but to realize it) wouldn't it be so wonderful to be prepared for it? at least somewhat. and that is one things that our schools want to prohibit. They want to keep any discussion of a gay-friendly nature out of schools and that just leads to longer closet times and more self hate.
So if you had the chance to go back and prepare to come out to yourself, what would you have wanted to know? what measures would you have taken to make sure that you were a good Boy Scout?
PS I also want to know what you guys think this means about Jane. She is kind of depressed sometimes. She hangs out with a kid who is a proud atheistic Democrat who was told by his (female) crush's mother that they couldn't hang out because he was too effeminate. Basically this kid could be an earlier version of Rainbow necklace kid and Danny Noriega. could she be doing this for him? or is she closeted? or am I just looking to much into this piece of paper I found lying around after school?
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I don't know that you can read too much about a person based on a few brief answers. For example, there are lots of reasons a middle school aged girl might exhibit depression. She may feel she doesn't have many friends (evidenced by her hanging out an atheistic effeminate boy), or she could feel she isn't pretty enough, etc.
ReplyDeleteSomething else to consider, at this age, children often parrot what they hear their parents say at home. So, the answers on that survey may say just as much about her parents as it does her, which is encouraging as it suggests that Utah citizens are not as homophobic as their legislative representatives might suggest.