Groundspark

Last November, the GroundSpark team was in Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee with our Respect For All Project workshops. We heard teachers and social workers and counselors tell us of their desire to help the youth they work with overcome prejudice and hate. They also told us how a proposition to mandate english-only policies was dividing their community. The policy was eventually defeated, but we were shocked to hear this week that our allies in Tennessee will now have to heal from another divisive bill introduced in their state legislature.

The Tennessee House of Representatives heard a bill this week that would forbid elementary and middle school teachers from discussing any sexual orientation other than heterosexuality. This the second year that Sen. Dewayne Bunch (R-Cleveland) and Rep. Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville) have filed the measure. The committee voted to send the bill to the Department of Education for further study, but please consider sending a letter, or even It’s Elementary, to the subcommittee and the bill’s sponsors! Their contact information can be found here.

Tags: homophobia, It's Elementary, Policies, prejudice, schools