I had dinner with some friends last night at Gardel’s. It was lovely.
There was a man in our party who works as a teacher here in LAUSD. Despite the pay cuts, layoffs and daily violence he faces, he did not complain to me about of any of that. He did tell me that he is being persecuted by the parent of one of his students for being gay. She made up stuff about him, forced an investigation and got her totally untrue rumors spread thoroughly about the school.
In short he has been made to suffer by a liar who faces no consequences.
I know what’s wrong with her, but what the hell is wrong with LAUSD?
Gay people don’t have rights in this country. We are not citizens. We are treated almost daily to the bigoted and outrageous claims and statements of people who have nothing to fear in making them. Right wing pundits can call a politician a faggot and still have a career. Saying that something is Gay is a commonly used term of derision. Telling the truth about your sexuality can get you fired from a Federal job.
There was a time, not too long ago, when a black man could be lynched for “leering” at a white woman. Today the person making any such claim would be suspect, not the man. My friend, whose career is being impacted by the false charges of this bigot, is on the same limb. There may be no rope involved, but threatening someone’s livelihood with false claims is threatening his life.
Will the cities of this country have to be burned again in order to expand civil rights to include all Americans?
Maybe if we funded education the way we fund the military, we’d be smart enough to learn from our mistakes. Who knows, maybe we’d be so smart we’d no longer need a military.
We’ll certainly get no smarter if a man who’s working in dire conditions, at reduced pay, to help educate the child of this ignorant woman, is forced out of his profession because of lies, bigotry and the systemic refusal of this country to offer equal protection under the law.
Just in case you’re wondering its:
Ramon C. Cortines
Superintendent, LAUSD
333 S. Beaudry Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90017
2123-241-7000
Email and contact details for the school board can be found at:
Eric Shaw Quinn 