Given that story line it's hard to believe that any of those details would be met with anything but rousing support. And while, in most circles it has, in a few it is met with disdain and protest. Not because the people who seek to vilify the love and acceptance taught in Omar's classroom have no brains, but because they have small minds. They are unable to see that the world around them has changed and continues to change--that their children are more than just a part of their household, they are a part of our communities.
Those communities include people of different colors, different religions, different family structures and, yes, different sexual orientations. So when a child is bullied by his classmates and called "gay" because of his effeminate behavior and his teacher reads a book that affirms his nature to the entire class it is to be lauded and celebrated, not reprimanded and protested.
If that child for one moment saw himself as one of the kings and felt removed from the margins, it was worth it. If the bullies for one moment realized their wrong in shaming someone because of difference, it was worth it. If one parent feels proud that their child learned to be an open-minded, accepting global citizen in Mr. Currie's classroom, it was worth it.
And so, it was worth it.
The continued rise in gay youth suicides has produces what, to some, may appear to be a united front against gay bullying. Under the surface though, there lies a conservative school of thought that ignores the problem in order to accuse those trying to confront it as pushing a "gay agenda." They don't believe that schools should take sides on this subject--I think they could not be more wrong. I think in time their view point will seem as quaint and distant as the view that teaching children about racial justice is an "integrationist agenda"
The only agenda being pushed by teachers and administrators as brave as Mr. Currie is an agenda of respect.
From the days of clay tablets in Mesopotamia, books have been used as teaching tools and to shape society as we know it. They should not be banned, and they should certainly not be subjected to required approval. Words in books are like waves on the beach. They lift, tumble and turn us sometimes into breathless moments before bringing us up to air again. In this case perhaps a book washed away, if for a moment, a third grade boy's stress and fear of hateful language--being called gay on the playground. Perhaps this book was invisible and welcoming arms, holding a child close and allowing him to see himself or perhaps his family on the pages--represented and accepted.
If Bullying was the concern, and the book was the tool then the teacher was the conduit which channeled it all together through brave recourse. Hope is never silent, and we are all inspired by Omar's voice. He stands on the shoulders of those who have fought for equality and acceptance before him and see that the journey is still long, the landscape is still treacherous but it ends with equality and justice for all--for every child who is bullied, and for every teacher who is criticized for taking steps to protect that child.
