Talking Point 3

Talking Point #3
Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community by Dennis Carlson

Premise:
• Homosexuality
• Categorization
• Discrimination
• “Normalizing Community”
• Stereotypes
• “culture of power”
• False norms in a society
• New ideas on what community should be
• Marginalization
• Hiding of gay features in schools
• Stopping of latent homosexualism
• Alienation of gays in schools
• Conversations of homosexuality avoided in schools
• Ridiculous myths about homosexuals

Author’s Argument:
Carlson argues that there needs to be a new outlook as to how society should be normalized, in a sense that people have to come to the conclusion that today’s society is vastly different than a generation ago, so it is pertinent to make changes that will not lead to malicious marginalization and degradation of homosexuals.

Evidence:
1. “In what follows, I not only want to point to some of the ways gay people and “gayness” have been “kept in their place” in the school community; more importantly I want to argue that these practices are increasingly hard to sustain.”
2. Carlson discusses a second discourse on community in America as being associated with new right and neo-conservatism. This essentially states that during a romanticized lost American community authority was respected and everyone knew their places and society was homogenous. It also holds that there will be a use of oppressive tactics to keep “Others” in their places
3. Employing of homosexual teachers who were thought to be lecherous and present a danger to students is also an art that will die soon because homosexuals who want to become teachers will fight for their rights now and increasingly making practices of old hard to sustain.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
This article by Dennis Carlson is an eye-opening piece that shows how horrible practices of marginalizing different sexes is something that should and will eventually disappear; unfortunately it still exists. The article overall for me was an easy read I did not have any trouble understanding the message that Carlson was trying to convey and I feel that he is completely right in his assertions. It relates to other texts we have read such as Delpit and the culture of power dictating how certain marginalized groups are viewed and treated. Overall, Carlson takes a controversial topic and points to the importance of respecting all people and by normalizing society it should in no way include discrimination of homosexuals; however, this is still the case, but it will be as he says tougher to sustain in the future.