I ran into this item on Andrew Sullivan's blog, but have not seen it here yet. Sean Simonson, editor of the student newspaper at his Catholic high school wrote an editorial on what it's like to be a gay teen, and why such a teen might consider committing suicide.
Every day you hear someone use your sexuality -- a part of you that, no matter how desperately you try, you cannot change -- as a negative adjective. That hurts.
You fear looking the wrong way in the locker room and offending someone. Politicians are allowed to debate your right to marry the person you love or your right to be protected from hate crimes under the law. Your faith preaches your exclusion -- or damnation. And no one does anything to stop it.
Administrators at the high school deleted the editorial from the paper's website, and shut off the comments.
More below the fold.
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Simonson is a student at Benilde-St. Margaret's High School in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. He is the editor of the Knight Errant, the school newspaper. The story of Sean Simonson, his editorial, and the school's reaction to it, was reported by Minnesota Public Radio. The full story is here. They also published Simonson's editorial in full. It is an eloquently written piece, as the sample above demonstrates. He ends by urging anyone LGBT teen considering suicide not to do it:
Why? Because without you, who is going to make it better for everyone else? Without you, no one is going to stand up against the injustice. I need you to help me make this world a better place for both of us and everyone else like us.
In the place of the editorial was the following statement from the Principal:
"While lively debate and discussion clearly has its place in a Catholic school, this particular discussion is not appropriate because the level of intensity has created an unsafe environment for students. As importantly, the articles and ensuing online postings have created confusion about Church teaching," the statement read in part.
Most of the responses to Simonson's editorial were positive, but there were a certain number that were quite negative, quoting scripture (I suspect you can guess which ones). I suppose one could make a defense of the Principal's position because the usual Biblical arguments against homosexuality are not ones used by the Catholic Church, which recognizes that the Bible is, in fact, subject to interpretation. The Church acknowledges the existence of "homosexual persons," and acknowledges that they are as much children of God as anyone else. [The Church's teaching on homosexual acts, on the other hand, is quite another issue, one that leaves LGBT Catholics with no hope of ever living a happy life, and which could be used by bullies to justify their bullying, despite the Church's position on "homosexual persons."] One could imagine that school administrators might want to stop those commenting in response to the editorial who took the standard conservative Evangelical Protestant position that there are no homosexual persons, and that LGBT people are, at best, just confused heterosexuals.
But still, I found Simonson's editorial to be a brave and brilliant piece of writing, one that will touch anyone with a functioning heart to the very core. This instance just reminds me of just how much has to change before LGBT people can live in this country in safety, and with full civil rights.
And Minnesota Public Radio deserves much praise for making Simonson's editorial available to all of us.
Now, on to the comments!
From benintn:
I need to do 10 Hail Glenns for this one, but this comment from Citizen K, posted in kestral9000's recommended diary, just had me doubled over. Just because I was imagining what a Glenn Greenwald blog about sea monkeys might look like.
From carolita:
In JekylnHyde's hilarious XXX-rated diary,*Cali Scribe* describes a sensible approach to airport security -- shows what listening to folks with tons of actual experience can do.
I agree with Jennifer Clare's response to a fabulous cartoon posted by JekylnHyde in his own diary: "Out of all the thousands of amazing political cartoons you have posted here over the years, this one is the most spot-on, incredible, tells-the-truth-plainly that I have ever seen. This cartoon is one of those "THAT'S what is going on here" moments for me."
From tardis10:
I'd like to nominate this long comment by potatohead, posted in his own diary. Reason why? Because this needs to be understood by every working person in the world.
From JanF:
There was a lot of hilarity in jotterville on Sunday but this comment by side pocket in a discussion about Sarah Palin's new show gets the Top Comment nod.
From bronte17:
hannah has encapsulated some thoughts… the problem was substituting ideas/figments of imagination for real people from the Mission Accomplished diary by noweasels. And hannah's diary Glorifying badness from this morning... behaving like vandals and calling it civilization holds the key out of this morass IMHO.
And for a touch of humor for the evening... here's FiredUpInCA explaining where those Made in China stealth missiles end up at ... in Glenn Beck Solves the Contrailer Mystery by KingOneEye.
From your humble diarist:
In the Midday open thread, Crashing Vor posted this interesting comment.
Also in the Midday open thread was this comment posted by Eryk. I'm such a sucker for this kind of humor.
In Laurence Lewis's front page story, 8th cousin makes a thought-provoking observation.
And, finally, here is a comment from Dotty Gale, from the Open Thread, displaying a classic Studebaker. I'm a sucker for cars of that vintage.
And lastly ... Top Mojo - (cskendrick/sardonyx-style) excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, Cheers and Jeers and (alas) ... da pooties:
1) Best part of diary. Rachel vs Cenk. by FishOutofWater — 246
2) I don't live in Egypt, sorry by RASalvatore — 197
3) Attacking Cenk for his diary... by rubine — 183
4) Obama has vetted all his legislative... by rubine — 147
5) Please read for comprehension by Dallasdoc — 131
6) I'd be happy by deaniac83 — 119
7) Still using "It's only been X months"? by Dallasdoc — 95
8) rubine is NOT by alizard — 90
9) Cenk doesn't provide links. by Nulwee — 78
10) You asked the question. by cato — 76
11) Sorry, I Couldn't Find it by JekyllnHyde — 74
12) Who said he was? by kev9100 — 72
13) You are soooo going to get flamed by sideboth — 71
14) If Jeb runs I have the slogan for Dems: by magnetics — 69
15) Oh, wrt to most of them: I disagree by noweasels — 66
16) Thank you, but the kestrel9000 is not in. by Ana Thema — 65
17) Just found this fantastic image that fits your by slinkerwink — 65
18) "22 months" to get it right the first time... by ImpeachKingBushII — 64
19) talk about denial by dark daze — 63
20) I'm Going to Post a Few More Cartoons by JekyllnHyde — 63
21) Just got back from the emergency vet by Siri — 63
22) Outstanding diary Zhen, brilliant and well by Badabing — 62
23) sshhhhh by Horsefeathers — 60
24) Thanks Very Much, ozarkspark by JekyllnHyde — 59
25) Don't agree w/ EVERY point in this diary... by tier1express — 58
26) The smartest thing Rahm Emanuel... by Meteor Blades — 58
27) Or maybe not by Dallasdoc — 57
28) Here's a couple names. Cenk and Sirota. by zapus — 56
29) You keep asking because this isn't law review by Cthulhu — 56
30) You by lightshine — 55
31) I hope Jebby does run by Jeff Y — 55
32) The rattlesnakes are turning on each other... by APA Guy — 55
33) Although it's not yet noon in my part of the by RLMiller — 55
===============
Top Mojo with No Exclusions, no nothing:
1) Tip Jar by RASalvatore — 486
2) Tips by kestrel9000 — 365
3) Tip Jar by ZhenRen — 341
4) Tip Jar by deaniac83 — 260
5) Best part of diary. Rachel vs Cenk. by FishOutofWater — 246
6) Tip Jar by slinkerwink — 235
7) Tip Jar by Cenk Uygur — 201
8) I don't live in Egypt, sorry by RASalvatore — 197
9) Tip Jar Dear William's rag by LaFeminista — 195
10) Attacking Cenk for his diary... by rubine — 185
11) If You Didn't Know This by JekyllnHyde — 176
12) Every time I think we've passed this by noweasels — 175
13) Tip Jar by jpmassar — 161
14) Obama has vetted all his legislative... by rubine — 148
15) [Corny expression/rampant poutrage] by Dauphin — 143
16) Please read for comprehension by Dallasdoc — 131
17) tips by whoknu — 124
18) I'd be happy by deaniac83 — 119
19) If it proclaims itself to be bad, by hannah — 115
20) Tip Jar by Garrett — 113
21) Tip Jar by Ojibwa — 101
22) There are a bunch more recipes to talk about but by navajo — 101
23) Still using "It's only been X months"? by Dallasdoc — 95
24) rubine is NOT by alizard — 90
25) Cenk doesn't provide links. by Nulwee — 78
26) You asked the question. by cato — 76
27) Sorry, I Couldn't Find it by JekyllnHyde — 74
28) Who said he was? by kev9100 — 72
29) You are soooo going to get flamed by sideboth — 71
30) If Jeb runs I have the slogan for Dems: by magnetics — 69
31) TIPS by Trix — 69