03/19/2009
TN Lawmaker Stacey Campfield Reintroduces Homophobic School Bill
Tennessee lawmaker Stacey Campfield has reintroduced a bill that would ban any discussion of homosexuality or gay-themed material from public schools in the state:
Newschannel5 reports: "Campfield filed, the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, which would essentially ban teachers from talking about the topic. 'I think our teachers need to stick with reading, writing, and arithmetic,' Campfield said. 'It confuses a lot of children that are already in a difficult part of life, and it's a very complex issue.' Campfield pointed to newspaper articles as examples of where homosexuality was being taught in schools, like a program in Knoxville that contains information on aids, gay and lesbian sex. He said second graders had access to the information. 'Let's take this off the table, lets not talk about this to very young children, I don't see a problem with that,' Campfield said."
Campfield denies his intention is homophobic: "Homophobic means you're afraid of something. I think its a complex issue. This bill is neutral. It doesn't say we are going to preach against it. We are not going to preach for it; we are going to leave it neutral."
The good news is that legislators have postponed discussion of the bill.
Campfield introduced the same bill last year. It was killed in committee after the Tennessee Education Association, the ACLU, and the state Department of Education spoke out against it. Some homophobes never give up.
Watch the Newschannel 5 report, AFTER THE JUMP...
Posted 10:20 AM EST by Andy Towle in Education, News, Tennessee | Permalink
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Well that's it, isn't it? "I think teachers ought to...." Well I don't give a shit about what you think, or esp. what you think somebody "ought to" or "should" do. This is poisonous pseudo-reasoning, and is a primary source of all our human, and non-human, suffering.
Posted by: clint | Mar 19, 2009 10:26:34 AM
Bro hs got some childhood issues he needs to address! No....seriously.
Posted by: TJ | Mar 19, 2009 10:33:11 AM
And may this "politely" bigoted bill be killed yet again...
Posted by: ichabod | Mar 19, 2009 10:33:47 AM
Why is it that people who want to ban gay things almost always look like raging closet cases?
A. Cuz ya are, Blanche, ya ARE!
Posted by: Q | Mar 19, 2009 10:35:23 AM
He's 40 and single....
Posted by: homer | Mar 19, 2009 10:43:29 AM
Being someone from Tennessee and having a gay brother and a mother who is a teacher. I think this bill is a really bad idea. It wasn't easy for my brother to come out and maybe if there had been some discussion when we were all younger things would have been easier for him and my family.
Posted by: Hannah | Mar 19, 2009 10:48:33 AM
"Homophobic means you're afraid of something. I think its a complex issue. This bill is neutral. It doesn't say we are going to preach against it. We are not going to preach for it; we are going to leave it neutral."
Yeah, "neutral" meaning we'll ban any discussion of it whatsoever and act like a whole segment of society simply doesn't exist. I mean, denial has always worked so well in the past…
Posted by: ichabod | Mar 19, 2009 10:50:58 AM
He can tap his foot inside my bathroom stall anytime!
Posted by: Fausto Fernos | Mar 19, 2009 10:53:19 AM
Banning any mention of something is neutral? "Paging Mr. Orwell, your decade is ready ..." So by his definition, I could call him a repressed fuckstick and that would be a compliment.
Posted by: MikeMick | Mar 19, 2009 10:53:34 AM
he does have "gay-face"
Posted by: shan | Mar 19, 2009 10:58:46 AM
I will say it again, "All the GOP has to offer its' constituents are: God, Guns, and Gays"! Just look around the country and see how many states and legislatures are taking up issues around "Gay", "Gay Marriage", "Gay in School", etc. Face it folks, whether you wish to admit it or not -
"WE ARE THE SCAPEGOATS of the 21stC"!!
Posted by: alex in boston | Mar 19, 2009 10:59:00 AM
With a name like Stacey, you know he has issues.
I would also argue that schools should teach far more than reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. (Like, you know, science, history, and P.E.)
Posted by: HomoDM | Mar 19, 2009 11:03:25 AM
Something tells me Mr. Campfield knows his way around a few truck stops and restrooms around Tennessee.
Posted by: Tweety | Mar 19, 2009 11:04:07 AM
does he also plan on banning a shit ton of books that cover homosexual themes from said reading and writing programs? does this also punish students who say "gay" in a derogatory way?
Posted by: Ian | Mar 19, 2009 11:17:05 AM
I love how in conservative speak "confusing" kids = teaching kids that being gay is no big deal.
It's not a "complex" issue. My nephew has know I was gay since forever. It's really a non-issue for him.
Posted by: Alex | Mar 19, 2009 11:19:36 AM
It's really too bad he's such a douche because I wouldn't mind introducing the subject of homosexuality to him. Also I remember when I was younger and not as out that I hated guys who were out and totally comfortable in their skin.
Posted by: Frank | Mar 19, 2009 11:42:04 AM
I somehow feel the urge to quote Roger DeBris and Carmen Ghia, of 'Producers' fame: Keep it light, keep it bright, keep it gay.
But that show probably never made it to TN.
Posted by: Hugo | Mar 19, 2009 11:57:46 AM
He was no doubt called "fag" a lot in school with a name like Stacey, so Mr. Defensive is finally going to get his revenge! And prove once and for all that he's a Man!
Maybe they should sponsor a bill for lawmaker childhood trauma therapy on his behalf.
Posted by: anon | Mar 19, 2009 12:00:12 PM
Does Fuckstick Campfield even have children? I didn't notice anything being said about that in the news article. I DID, however, find the douchenozzle in Facebook. Maybe I should ask him personally.
Posted by: FizziekruntNT | Mar 19, 2009 12:00:13 PM
The worse part is not that it's a homophobic bill (which is truly is). it's that it's cheap politics. I am sure there are far more pressing issues in his state than this. However, it's pretty easy to get some local news time by coming up with this.
Anybody ever read about George Wallace of Alabama? He lost and election because he was a not a strident segregationist against an opponent who was. He declared he would never be "out-niggered" again. We know how that ended up.
Posted by: Derek Washington | Mar 19, 2009 12:00:28 PM
NARCISSM. NARCISSM. NARCISSM. NARCISSM. NARCIMM. NARCISSM. NARCISSM. Check it out at halcyon.com It been a panacea for the soul.
Posted by: JD | Mar 19, 2009 12:05:14 PM
Does this ban come right after not addressing religious-based bigots (oops- forgot TN and most other states already have that topic covered). How bout banning anything the religious reich and Herr Limbaugh, Frau Coulter, et. al. spew from their fangs?
Posted by: Nick | Mar 19, 2009 12:10:33 PM
"gay-themed material"
So...no mention of Michelangelo, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, W.H.Auden, James Balwin, Noel Coward, Emily Dickinson, E.M. Forester, Michel Foucault, J. Edgar Hoover, Langston Hughes, Somerset Maugham, Margaret Mead, Martina or Billie Jean, Victoria Sackville-West, Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Thornton Wilder, or Virginia Woolf (among dozens of others) and no music by....well...take your pick.
This is insane and inane.
Posted by: notshychirev | Mar 19, 2009 12:12:44 PM
"Homophobic means you're afraid of something. I think its a complex issue."
Well, at least it's way too complex for someone who doesn't understand what "homophobic" means.
Posted by: Michael | Mar 19, 2009 12:27:23 PM
A single 41 year old man named Stacey Campfield whose blog is named Camp4u?
http://www.lastcar.blogspot.com/
Sweet holy Mary mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ nailed to cross with a crown of thorns and a side of fries! He's gayer than a truckload of size 12 ruby slippers. If you were writing a book with him as a character, any editor would slap your face and tell you to be more believable.
This twisted sister needs therapy and a makeover.
Posted by: Smartypants | Mar 19, 2009 1:10:18 PM