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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2016)
FRIDAYEXTRA ! The Daily Astorian Friday, January 8, 2016 Weekend Edition THE LONG ROAD TO ACCEPTANCE Attitudes on gay marriage among young people have shifted rapidly By MATT LOVE Special to The Daily Astorian I ’ve taught high school English and social stud- ies in rural, urban and suburban Oregon public schools since the late 1980s and have seen a lot of changes during that time: the rise of computers, the domination of testing mandates, the privatization RIPDQ\FODVVL¿HGMREVQHZWHDFKHUHYDOXDWLRQSUR- tocols, more students prescribed anti-depressants, fears of a school shooting, increase of non-English speaking students, special math and science initia- tives for female students, more female administra- tors, reduction of creative arts opportunities for chil- dren, and so on. 0DQ\ SHRSOH KDYH ZHOFRPHG WKHVH GHYHORS- ments. Many have resisted and other changes have proved catastrophic. %XW WKH RQH ELJ SRVLWLYH FKDQJH ,¶YH ZLWQHVVHG over the course of my eclectic teaching career is the seismic shift to acceptance of gay, lesbian and trans- gender students, even in rural communities outside of the more liberal places like Portland and Eugene. 7UXO\,QHYHUVDZLWFRPLQJ,QHYHUWKRXJKWWKLV PRQXPHQWDO VKLIW ZRXOG RFFXU LQ P\ SURIHVVLRQDO lifetime. Thank goodness it did; it literally has saved lives. 0\ WHDFKLQJ KLVWRU\ ZLWK WKH VXEMHFW KDV EHHQ an interesting one. Several years ago, I served as DGYLVRU IRU 1HZSRUW +LJK 6FKRRO¶V VWXGHQW QHZV- SDSHU7KH +DUERU /LJKW 'XULQJ P\ WHQXUH , KDG WKUHHVWXGHQWVLQWKUHHGLIIHUHQW\HDUVZULWHUHJXODU columns about their experiences as a gay or lesbian WHHQDJHULQDVPDOOWRZQRQWKH2UHJRQ&RDVW2QH RIWKHFROXPQVZDVFDOOHG³:H7KH3HRSOH´DQGLW ZDVZULWWHQE\WKHQMXQLRU$YHU\+HDWHU+HUGHEXW column, published in 2009 began: ³ $ V the daugh- ter of a pastor, my GHFLVLRQWRFRPHRXWZDV DGLI¿FXOWRQH)LUVW,FRQ¿GHG LQP\VLVWHU,ZLOOQHYHUIRUJHWWKDWQLJKW creeping into her room at age 14, far past midnight, DQGZKLVSHULQJWRKHUOLNHDFKLOGZRXOG1H[W,WROG P\SDUHQWV0\PRPFULHGDW¿UVWEXWIURPWKDWGD\ XQWLOWKLVRQHWKH\KDYHHSLWRPL]HGVXSSRUW´ 7KHFROXPQZHQWRQWRGHVFULEHKRZWKHFRPPX- nity’s reaction to her sexual orientation affected her. ,WZDVQRWDQHDV\URDGWRWUDYHOLQ1HZSRUW²WKHQ RUQRZ%XWORRNKRZIDUZHKDYHFRPHLQ2UHJRQWR PDNHJD\OHVELDQDQGWUDQVJHQGHUVWXGHQWVIHHOZHO- come and safe in public schools. Many high school FDPSXVHVHYHQKDYH/*%7OHVELDQJD\ELVH[XDO WUDQVJHQGHUFOXEVZLWKIDFXOW\DGYLVRUVDQGDI¿OLD- WLRQVZLWK3)/$*3DUHQWVDQG)ULHQGVRI/HVELDQV DQG*D\V :HZHUHQ¶WDOZD\VVRWROHUDQWLQSXEOLFVFKRROV Remember Oregon in the late 1980s and early 1990s ZKHQWKH2UHJRQ&LWL]HQV$OOLDQFHOHGE\/RQ0D- ERQ TXDOL¿HG D VHULHV RI KRPRSKRELF EDOORW PHD- sures that tore this state apart? Remember the notorious Measure 9, in 1992 and Measure 13, in 1994? The former sought to amend WKH VWDWH FRQVWLWXWLRQ WR GHFODUH ³$OO JRYHUQPHQWV in Oregon may not use their monies or properties to promote, encourage or facilitate homosexuali- ty, pedophilia, sadism or masochism. All levels of government, including public education systems, must assist in setting a standard for Oregon’s youth ZKLFKUHFRJQL]HVWKDWWKHVHEHKDYLRUVDUHDEQRUPDO ZURQJ XQQDWXUDO DQG SHUYHUVH DQG WKH\ DUH WR EH GLVFRXUDJHGDQGDYRLGHG´ I taught in the Portland DUHD GXULQJ WKH 2UHJRQ &LW- izen Alliance’s heyday and the LGHDWKDWDVWXGHQWOLNH$YHU\ZKR ZDVDOVR1HZSRUW+LJK¶VYLFHSUHVL- GHQWZRXOGRUFRXOGSURFODLPLQSULQW KHU VWRU\ RI FRPLQJ RXW ZDV WRWDOO\ LQ- FRQFHLYDEOH , ZRUNHG ZLWK WHDFKHUV ZKR ZHUH FDUGFDUU\LQJ DOOLDQFH PHPEHUV ZRUH pro-Measure 13 buttons at school, and adver- WLVHG WKHLU LQWROHUDQFH ZLWK EXPSHU VWLFNHUV RQ WKHLUYHKLFOHV7KLVZDVDOVRWKHHUDZKHQFRDFKHV URXWLQHO\ FDOOHG PDOH DWKOHWHV ³IDJV´ IRU XQGHUSHU- forming in practice or games. 7KHSULQFLSDOV,ZRUNHGIRUGXULQJWKDWWLPHQHY- HUDGGUHVVHGWKLVGLYLVLYHLVVXHSXEOLFO\DQG,NQHZ RQH PDOH VWXGHQW ZKR WUDQVIHUUHG EHFDXVH KH ZDV consistently assaulted by other male students and nobody did a damn thing about it, including me. 7KDWZRXOGQHYHUKDSSHQWRGD\DQGZHDVDFXOWXUH are much better as a result. 2YHUWZRGHFDGHVDJR2UHJRQLDQVGHIHDWHGERWK WKRVH EDOORW PHDVXUHV DOWKRXJK SHRSOH voted for Measure 9). In the ensuing years the cli- mate for acceptance in much of Oregon dramatically changed, but it obviously engendered a backlash and WKH UHVXOW ZDV ¶V 0HDVXUH WKH EDOORW PHD- VXUH WKDW SDVVHG E\ D ODUJH PDMRULW\ DQG DPHQGHG WKHVWDWHFRQVWLWXWLRQWRGH¿QHPDUULDJHDVDXQLRQ EHWZHHQRQHPDQDQGRQHZRPDQ ,Q D IHGHUDO MXGJH UXOHG 0HDVXUH XQ- FRQVWLWXWLRQDO DOORZLQJ VDPHVH[ FRXSOHV WR OHJDO- ly marry in Oregon a year before the U.S. Supreme &RXUWJXDUDQWHHGWKDWULJKWQDWLRQDOO\ The last decade has seen revolutionary change LQ2UHJRQDQGDFURVVWKHFRXQWU\RQWKHVXEMHFWRI DFFHSWDQFHRI/*%7SHRSOHDQGWKHLUHTXDOSURWHF- WLRQ XQGHU WKH ODZ7KHUH LV VWLOO D ORQJ ZD\ WR JR DQG PDQ\ SHRSOH DQG SROLWLFLDQV ZKR UHVLVW REYL- ous change. Today’s students, at least the ones I’ve taught over the last decade in Oregon, don’t resist WKHFKDQJHDWDOO,QPDQ\ZD\VE\QRWPDNLQJDELJ GHDODERXWLWDQGDFFHSWLQJWKHLUSHHUVIRUZKRWKH\ are, they have been in the vanguard on this issue. I FHUWDLQO\NQRZWKH\¶YHWDXJKWPHDORW Matt Love is the author/editor of 14 books about Oregon, including “The Great Birthright.” He teach- es English and creative writing at Astoria High School. Truly, I never saw it coming. I never thought this monumental shift would occur in my professional lifetime. Thank goodness it did; it literally has saved lives.
