PHOENIX - Each Sunday, ABC15.com debuts an Arizona issue - along with two opposing sides on the topic.
Don’t worry, you always have the opportunity to make comments at the bottom of the page. Yeah, your opinion matters, too.
This week we’re tackling the debate on whether or not young children should be presented with gay role models.
For example, there is a petition being circulated urging the Sesame Street Workshop to have characters Bert and Ernie marry.
Cathi Herrod, president of Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) , says for a 4-year old, there are far more pressing issues to deal with than “sexual partners” or “sexual orientation.” She says it seems that the people behind this petition would rather have children focus on what happens in the bedroom, than on learning how to get along with people different from themselves.
Mike Crum, vice president of PFLAG Phoenix , says diversity is all around us, not just on a make-believe street in New York City. But he says teaching about diversity, starting at the most tender of ages, can begin a lifelong discussion of the topic that will cultivate respect for others’ differences and perhaps stop our children from being bullied, or perhaps even becoming the bullies themselves.
So, should young children be presented with gay role models?
Click “next page” to read the first of two positions, “Teaching diversity at a young age can begin lifelong discussion”.
“Teaching diversity at a young age can begin lifelong discussion”: By Mike Crum, vice president of PFLAG Phoenix
We were invited to answer this question because we are PFLAG Phoenix – Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays – and as an organization, we have spent nearly 40 years dedicated to the health and well-being of our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender loved ones.
The question was asked because of a petition circulating the Internet requesting that Sesame Street Muppets Bert and Ernie get married. The press had such fun with this that the producers of Sesame Street had to respond.
Really? This needed a response? I’m a PFLAG member, and I care about Ernie and Bert’s sexual orientation about as much as I care what basketball player Kim Kardashian is marrying this week, which number wife Larry King is on this week, or which goddess will be the next unfortunate wife of Charlie Sheen. Probably less. Maybe that’s because I take the Arizona tradition of “live and let live” quite literally.
I personally liked what the producers had to say: “Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves.”
And the entire situation led me to ask what I think is a more important question: Do Bert and Ernie need to come out as gay and get married in order to teach children the important and necessary lesson of respect for diversity? I don’t think so.
The producers went on to say, “Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.”
Felt puppets without sexual orientation. Created to teach about differences. A good answer for this age group. How can we further this discussion?
Well, instead of worrying about the make-believe relationship between two puppets, we could focus on the very real needs of the young children mentioned in the original question. After all, it’s their mental, emotional and physical well-being we should all be concerned with. They are our future leaders, the ones who will shape our society for generations to come. How can we serve their best interests and help them become productive, well-balanced, responsible, tax-paying (of course!) adults?
We could start by acknowledging the diversity around us and making that a less important distinction for them as they grow up. I’m not talking just about gay people - and yes, Virginia, they do in fact exist, and they are everywhere - I’m talking about people of different races, religions, cultures, income and education levels, gender identities, physical and/or mental abilities, and more.
How wonderful a world it would be if, as adults, we didn’t have to be suspect of others who are not exactly like us, didn’t need to inquire about the diverse qualities of other people because we were already aware of those qualities. Maybe, just maybe, we wouldn’t be as divided – socially, politically – as we appear to be today. We might actually be more civil to one another.
And this civility could start earlier. Bullying is a hot-button topic for students, teachers, administrators, legislators, and rightly so. Youth who are bullied experience the most negative of emotional and physical health outcomes: they are more likely to drop out of school, more likely to have problems with drugs and alcohol, more prone to depression…and the list goes on and disturbingly on.
And while not all of the bullying currently going on in our nation’s schools has been directed at openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) children, the bulk of the reported bullying has centered around the use of focused hate speech that includes anti-LGBT terminology.
So let us be the adults here and recognize that in teaching about diversity, starting at the most tender of ages, we can begin a lifelong discussion of the topic that will cultivate respect for others’ differences and perhaps stop our children from being bullied…or perhaps even becoming the bullies themselves.
And to the question of whether young children should be presented with gay and lesbian role models as a part of this diversity discussion?
I know that, for some, the first thought that comes to mind is some type of required explanation of s-e-x to young children. But that’s not how you present diversity, and it’s not how you present information about role models. Why would we need to discuss sex in relation to any person who serves as an example, whose behavior is emulated by others? We should be discussing achievements, heroic actions, leadership abilities…and how these role models may or may not be different from us, and whether that perceived or actual difference stands in the way of the excellent work that they do.
Would your child be harmed or helped by being presented positive gay and lesbian role models as actor Neil Patrick Harris? Or comedian and talk show host Ellen
Degeneres? Or rock singer Melissa Etheridge? Or country singer Chely Wright? Or new proud papa and rock-and-roll icon Elton John? Or tennis great Martina Navratilova? Or U.S. Congresspersons Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank, Jared Polis, or David Cicilline? Or U.S. Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger? Or how about the gay or lesbian friend, family member or neighbor down the street whom you admire?
Who are the people in your neighborhood? The people that you meet. Each day.
Diversity is all around us, not just on a make-believe street in New York City.
Do you agree with this opinion? Add a comment below to sound off.
Click “next page” to read the second position, “The aggressiveness of their message is disturbing”
“The aggressiveness of their message is disturbing”: By Cathi Herrod, president of Center for Arizona Policy (CAP)
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that for most of us, sex was the least of our worries when we were four years old. Or, that when we parented a 4-year old, teaching our child about sexuality was not an immediate concern for any of us.
For a 4-year old, there are far more pressing issues to deal with than “sexual partners” or “sexual orientation.”
When I heard about the petition to have Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie marry as a same-sex couple, I was disappointed but not surprised. Once again, we see some people going to absurd levels to push their agenda. To the writers of this petition, children are just a pawn in a political debate over whether to radically redefine marriage.
Yet as a parent, the intrusiveness of their tactics, and the aggressiveness of their message is disturbing. Why is it necessary for them to force sexualized role models on young children?
Sexuality doesn’t determine role models – character does.
I think about people like Tim Tebow, Helen Keller, or Rosa Parks as role models: individuals who overcame obstacles, worked hard to accomplish so much, and did so with the highest content of character.
Some could even see Bert and Ernie as role models. PBS said in their statement: “They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves.”
That’s a great message for kids. Yet it seems that the people behind this petition would rather have children focus on what happens in the bedroom, than on learning how to get along with people different from themselves.
What is most concerning about this agenda to teach and promote sexuality at early ages is the attack it brings on parents’ rights to direct the upbringing of their children. Parents choose the appropriate time and appropriate setting to discuss sex and sexuality with their children.
Sesame Street is an inappropriate avenue for these activists’ indoctrination.
Do the backers of this petition genuinely believe they can explain sexuality to preschoolers in a 3-4 minute segment on weekday mornings? I doubt it. It’s more likely that they see this as another opportunity to advance an agenda, regardless of the harm it has on children or parents. They think they know better than parents.
The rights of parents to protect their children and direct their children’s education should never be infringed upon. Not even by a television show.
And 4-year olds should be allowed to be four years old.
Do you agree with this opinion? Add a comment below to sound off.
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