Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community by Dennis Carlson (Extended Comments)

Caiti Donovan's blog

Gayness,Multicultural Education, and Community By Dennis Carlson, Reflection

        Reading this article really made me thankful for how accepting my education and home-life has been.  My mother has always encouraged me to be myself, no matter what.  She always had said that her love for me is unconditional no matter my sexual orientation.  My high-school was also very accepting.  I went to Rogers Highschool in Newport, Rhode Island.  We were very diverse in every sense of the word.  A lot of the race issues we have come across in FNED class has been a shock to me because in my community I have always been assimilated in with children of all races. My childhood best friend is half black so my "second dad" was a black man and I never noticed any differences in the way he raised his children.  Not only has my schooling been racially integrated but I feel like we were very accepting of sexual orientation as well.  When you found out a girl was a lesbian or bi-sexual it didn't change how you felt about her.  I had a friend come out to me in seventh grade, I was shocked but it did not change my relationship with her at all.  
        One of my very close friend's little sister came out in highschool, she is the sweetest girl. For Rogers to graduate you need to complete a senior project.  For her senior project she started a GSA Club, (Gay Straight Alliance).  I was so proud of her, she had brought even more awareness to our school and was not afraid to show who she really was. I loved this quote from the article,


" This authorized message- be yourself- has begun to surface as one of the primary codes within commercial popular cultural texts, and it is a message that, like many postrnodern messages and codes, is open to contradictory readings. "Beingyourself" celebrates individualism and the autonomy of individuals to construct their own lives according to their own values and achieve goals they set for themselves-a deep foundational value in American culture"

I myself believe that being yourself in the most important thing in the worlds.  You only live once, be yourself and be happy.

My Response:

      After reading this article and reading Caiti’s blog I fully agreed with what she had to say, especially since I also attended Rogers High School with her and know of the experiences she wrote about. Like Caiti’s mom, my parents have also always encouraged me to be myself and to do what I feel was right for me. No matter my sexual orientation, my parents would always be accepting of the decision I have made. I also have to agree with Caiti when she said Rogers High School was very accepting of everything. At school nothing mattered, not your race, gender, sexual orientation, nothing. All of the schools I have attended have all had the same acceptance, so to me not accepting someone because they are different then me does not make sense. I feel as though at Rogers everyone was very accepting of one another. A good example of this was how Caiti said a girl came out and did her senior project to create a Gay Straight Alliance club. Right away when GSA started so many of her peers joined. The club was filled with all different types of people, from different sexual orientations to different races and everyone accepted one another. I do not think the thought of not accepting someone or judging someone was a thought to anyone, in our eyes everyone is equal.

       I like the quote that Caiti used. I think it is important to be you and be happy. If everyone was the same then the world would be dull and boring.

In class I would like to discuss if other people grew up with the same experiences.