RateItAll: The Opinion Network

I would have to say simply: Everything else being equal One openly gay teacher and one hetro - I'd like my son in the hetro's class. I temper this by adding that I do not know any gay people (well enough to have had conversations of this nature with them). If I'm honest, and I will be, I would be nervous of a possible gay influence on my son's sexuality. Can anyone really assure me that all gay men and women were born gay. If any of my sons are or become gay then I'll have to deal with it and be there for them as I would be no matter what. However I had a choice then I would prefer if they were hetro. Therefor given the choice I would remove the influense of a gay teacher. Is that not fair comment from a father charged with the welfare of his son's until such time as they can make there own decisions. Lets not forget that a teacher probalily has more time and influence with your child than a parent for they year they have them in there class.

Being gay or straight has no bearing on teaching quality. One of the worste teachers I have ever seen was straight, and the few gay teachers I know range from decent to very good.

my biggest concern with a teacher for my kids is are they dedicated, care about the students, have an enthusiasm for teaching and not looking at the clock when they can leave.Over the years my kids have had some wonderful teachers I wish they can have every year, some so so ones who pass. and then really lousy ones. I have not once checked to find out what their sexual orientation is. It does not bother me if I were to find out if they were openly gay {by this i assume they admit to being gay but not going on about being gay}my interest in them would be just how good of a teacher they are.

I'm OK with it but if the teacher is acting in a professional manner and doing their job, their sexual orientation should not come up! Are we talking elementary school? High school? University? By university age, I dont think it matters if the teacher brings it up. No teacher should expose young students to their politics or religeous beliefs.

As if this makes them any more unprofessional than a young straight teacher? I couldn't care less if my child had an openly gay teacher, as a matter of fact, one of my favorite teachers was openly gay. As long as they conduct themselves as ALL teachers (no matter their sexual orientation) should; I have no problem with this at all.

Well stats show that teaching has a high percentage of homosexuals - both male and female - relative to other professions. I draw great pleasure knowing that odds dictate that the right wing Jesus freaks on this site who are soooo anti-gay more than likely had a gay teacher somewhere along the line.

I'm fine with it. In this day and age it doesn't come as much of a shock to me that some people are *gasp* gay! My high school math teacher was gay....come to think of it, so was my english teacher, but never once was it an issue because they did their jobs. They taught. Thats all that matters to me. I grew up around a lot of gay people too, so it doesn't bother me.

As long as he teaches what he is supposed to be teaching and not flashing his sexual preference around like an idiot.

I think I could deal with it, might be difficult. But the second my kid comes home and tells me something that deals with homosexuality that he learned from his teacher, the tide will turn.

As long as he leaves Mr. Hat at home.

So long as they don't try to promote it amongst kids or talk about it in class, I have no problem with it. Again, openly is the key word.

I deal with it, but I'm ashamed to say I have a slight issue with it for my son who is 4. I think it's completely irrational on my part. I'll have no problem re my daughter.

Openly gay? As in, admitting they are if asked? Of course. By being open I assume you mean simply admitting it, and not talking about it every day and including it in discussions. No sane teacher, gay or straight, is going to talk about their sexual preference and relationships every day in class. They are there to teach, and their sexual preference shouldn't have an impact either way.

Absolutley I would be okay with it. As long as he/she didn't discuss what goes on behind bedroom doors, then I no problem with it whatsoever. But then again, I wouldn't want ANY teacher discussing their sexual matters with my children - gay or straight.

I wouldn't want them openly talking about it in class, but I wouldn't want a heterosexual teacher talking about their relationships openly in class either. I would be more concerned if the teacher was a drug abuser or had a bad history with children. I come from a small community, and there have been a couple of teachers here that people knew were gay. Nobody really cared about that, but when a teacher was caught peeping on the girls in the locker room, he was run out of town on a rail. As it should be, in both cases.

If the teacher is certified, well-qualified and respectable I doubt I would lose any sleep over it. It is worth noting, however, that many criticize those who may be a bit more uncomfortable with this scenario because of homophobia or the idea the child may catch gay (laughable I'll admit). By the same token, though, HeyKate mentioned an interesting point: if the childs teacher were openly Chrisitan many would assume he or she to be a bible thumping, red neck Bush supporter. And knowing RIA as I do, I'm sure a few people would not be as blantanly PC as their acting if that were the case. Myself, I think the quality of education should be the first concern.

I would be fine with my child's teacher being openly gay, but I would have a problem if any teacher, gay or straight, brought their personal life into the classroom. Teachers are supposed to be professionals and there shouldn't be a reason to discuss your personal life with children. If the teacher used their position as an educator to try and influence the children's personal beliefs, I would have a problem with that.

Big problem with this one, Not what I want as a role model for MY child.

Doesn't bother me AT ALL. A person's sexuality shouldn't matter. However, my 15yo brother is a GIANT homophobe (sadly) and is afraid next year that he will get the token openly gay English teacher.

Yes...openly is the key word here. While I would really be concerned if any of my kids teachers were gay, I have no control over that. Unfortunately, its part of our new order these days. There was a day when the gay community kept their pursuation to themselves and I would respect that. The problem is that today most social groups outside the traditional genres if you will are screaming to be legitimized. Its just granstanding and not neccessary. Ive actually come across a few gays that agree with that concept 100 percent.

I dont care if they are known to be gay, but they should keep their lifestyle habits to themselves. They are suppose to be there to educate only. That means no groping, no gawking, and no sexual harassing. UPDATE: If i had a child who was gay, i would feel grateful if a gay teacher was educating at my childs school. In adolecence, who is this child going to go to for help with his social problems? If other kids found out he was gay, he may be outcasted. The teacher may be a better help than a principal or guidance counselor.

I have to admit to some mixed feelings about this item. As long as the teacher does not advocate or push his/her alternate lifestyle, I can accept and tolerate it. That he/she should be a competent educator goes without saying, and actually doesn't enter into the equation here. I'd also like to note that it might be better for a teacher to be known as a gay and to acknowledge it, than having to try to hide it and having others (probably other teachers more so than the kids themselves) make all kinds of innuendo about it. Gets too distracting.

Well said, as usual, Jed. I have no problem with it either.

No problem whatsoever. But from reading a number of the other comments I think a definition in terms is wanting here. Just for the record.. openly gay means that a person acknowledges being gay and does not feel they need to hide the fact from anyone who asks. Period. It doesn't mean that they openly discuss any part of their lives with their students or with anyone else for that matter.

I guess I'm more concerned if my child's teacher is smart, enthusiastic, passionate about teaching, and hard-working. Things like how tall they are, what color their skin is, what their sexual preference is - uhhh, really not that important to me.

I don't think a child's teacher should be open about anything pertaining to his/her sexuality.

I do not care about a Teachers sexual orientation any more than their race,religion or gender. Being gay does not make one a pedophile. Plenty of kids have been molested by heterosexual teachers. What counts,folks-is their credentials! I had several teachers who were very likely gay,back in the 70s and 80s-and they were excellent teachers.

So basically your ok on this list if your not any other race but white, your middle class, your not female, and your heterosexual. My goodness I wonder if the person who created this list is white, male, middle-class and heterosexual? So that makes him ok? Get a grip buddy!!!

Yes, I am ok with it. I think kids need to know how to get along with all types of people. Anyway theres at least 4 gays in our family as it stands, so it doesn't really effect them much although they do laugh about gay jokes a lot at home. EDIT: to bluetarbaby, your comments about this made me and my kids laugh so hard thinking about them having to go to school with a teacher like mr. garrison.

Same as Jar Jar

It doesn't matter at all. Just as long as the teacher does her job.

Regardless of what people say, they don't recruit. As long as they wren't into younger men' then it really isn't that big of a deal. Teachers aren't supposed to talk about their sex lives with students anyways. So if either a gay or striaght teacher started talking about their sex life with my kid, no, I would not be ok with it.

Who cares. Somebody's preferences are none of me or my child's business. I think a lot of fearful people have openly gay confused with wants to screw my child. It is impossible to teach somebody to be gay, so, who gives a damn. I'm more concerned with them being openly Christian if you get my drift. Or, do they just recite dates and famous people, or do they actually tell the real reassons for the Civil War and things like that. When I was in school, it was just, this many died at Shiloh, blah blah, Lee surrendered here, blah blah. They spoke nothing of hearts and minds. I had to find out on my own that Northern people didn't give a damn about blacks, and it was all about money and secession. I'm more concerned with teachers being good at what they do than I am with if they prefer to stick their johnsons in butts or vaginas. )))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))UPDATE: I think in most cases, if a child even knows what a teacher likes to do in bed, there is a problem. I would prefer if my child never even have the desire to wonder what porno his/her teacher watches. GAY OR STRAIGHT! There is a considerable ammount of christian snooping going on if a child knows his/her teacher is gay, in my opinion. Remember, it's sheepish crap to think a gay teacher acts like Mr. Garrison from South Park. So, if they know in the first place.............some idiotic parent probably told them.- or some idiotic parent's child told them.

It's not the gay part that bothers me as much as the word Openly. What does that imply? Will there be a constant barrage of Gay rights issue being heaped on my kid? This is a debatable issue. If the concern about an openly gay teacher is that they may try to influence our childrens lifestyle, that is a valid concern. If on the other hand the concern is that a gay man might either molest or be attracted to my child, and possibly manuerering himself/or herself into a possible affair of some type, I would be more concerned about a perverted heterosexual.

i would be more worried about his teaching ability then with who he is involved with.

As long as the teacher isn't hitting on my kid, then I don't care what their sexual orientation is.

Sure, why not? Is it an infectious disease. Of course, I assume openly gay means an admitted homosexual. I do not take openly gay to mean soliciting the attentions of students in the class or someone who speaks graphically about experiences.

I'm not a parent, so it's hard for me to put myself in the shoes of someone who is, I guess, but I'm not quite sure what the worry is here. Are you worried that the teacher is going to recruit your child into homosexuality? It's been determined that a child's sexuality is pretty well set by the time they're 5 years old, so that's unlikely to happen. Are you worried about molestation? Your child is far, FAR more likely to be molested by a heterosexual, so that can't be it. If it comes down to plain, old prejudice against gay people...well, they exist, they've always existed, they always will exist, and sooner or later your child will come into contact with them.

I have a huge problem with an openly gay teacher instructing my child in his formative years. Sexuality simply should not be an issue that my child is openly influenced by during his developmental stage and surely not an abnormal sexual behavior that would confuse the child during those stages. If the teacher left his sexuality at home where it belongs- never mentioned it and taught my child- then fine. But a scenario where my child would be privy to the teacher's sexual proclivities is simply unacceptable.

You've got to be kidding me. When I look at my kid, I think about big concepts (1) life, (2) death, (3) financial future(s), (4) education, and (5) the NFL (just kidding.) Now see where this belongs on the list- Where does my child's teacher put his pee-pee or tounge? That's reeeeaaaal low on the list, kids. As long as the teacher sticks to the subject, I just don't care at all. I'm openly straight at work (pics of my family, jokes at luchtime about family issues, et.al.) I kind of feel bad for workers who have to keep silent and not engage certain conversation due to the idiocy of assh#les.

I'm really not ok with it and the reason is the term openly gay. Making it an issue at your place of employment should be grounds for dismissal. Period. We've all had gay teachers but that openly thing, given the militant gay agenda so pervasive today, that's a deal killer for me. I'm not openly heterosexual at work. I don't think I am, anyway.

Man, this one is a stiuational call. I'd have to meet the person.