Talk Point # 3: Carlson

1.“…gay people have for the most part been made absent, invisible, and silent within this community and at the same time represented at the deviant and pathological ‘Other.’” (223).
Unfortunately in today’s society gay people are made absent, invisible, and silent, because they feel as though they can not be true about who they are. Since other people are not accepting of this and discriminate against them, it forces gay people to be quiet. It is not easy to come out and tell the truth. Society also makes it seem wrong and that particular people are wrong for being gay. They are viewed as being “others” because they are not like everyone else in society. It is sad that someone cannot come out and talk about who they truly are, because they fear others.

2.“The official policy in most school districts is in fact identical to that of the U.S. military, namely: “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Interestingly, while this policy is being challenged by gays in the military, it has not been forcefully challenged by gay teachers in public schools yet…”
This quote stuck out to me, because not to long ago I had a conversation about gay people in the military. A new law was passed that overrode the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law and now men in the military can be openly gay and they not be discriminated against in a sense. Teachers in public schools should be allowed to say they are gay if they choose to do so without any repercussions. If it is not allowed for a teacher to come out, this may give students the idea that they should not come out either and that is sending the wrong message. People should be allowed to be who they really are without having to worry about losing their job or being discriminated against by the other members of the school board.

3.“Among other things, it involves the constitution of a whole network of support services and organizations designed to help individuals “come out” in a supportive environment and participate in the gay community, including gay counseling services, drop-in centers, support groups, athletic leagues, choruses, and political organizations.”
This quote stuck out to me, because it describes all the different types of counseling gay people can receive when they choose to “come out” in different types of situations. As a straight person, I do not have to think twice about revealing my sexual orientation no matter what type of situation I am in. Someone who is homosexual has to worry about who they reveal it to and may even have to receive some sort of counseling after they come out. They have to think twice about telling people in their community and hope it goes well where as I can say it to whomever I want without anything negative happening to me.

This article describes the different effects “coming out” has on people and the different types of situations people can be in. It is frowned upon in society by many people to be gay which forces gay people to have to keep silent about their sexual orientation. If they do “come out” they have to worry about what may happen to them or if they will lose their job over it. It also goes into great detail about the school systems opinion on the entire situation and how for a while it was similar to that or the military with the “don’t ask, don’t tell”. They were not saying you could not be gay, they were saying you cannot tell anyone you are which is not right.