ChannelOklahoma.com - News - National 'No Name-Calling' Week Irks Conservatives: "Using a young readers' novel called 'The Misfits' as its centerpiece, middle schools nationwide will participate in a 'No Name-Calling Week' initiative starting Monday. The program, now in its second year, has the backing of groups from the Girl Scouts to Amnesty International but has also drawn complaints that it overemphasizes harassment of gay youths.
The initiative was developed by the New York-based Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which seeks to ensure that schools safely accommodate students of all sexual orientations. GLSEN worked with James Howe, the openly gay author of 'The Misfits' and many other popular children's books.
'Gay students aren't the only kids targeted - this isn't about special rights for them,' Howe said. 'But the fact is that 'faggot' is probably the most common insult at schools.'
'The Misfits' deals with four much-taunted middle school students -- one of them gay -- who run for the student council on a platform advocating an end to nasty name-calling."
Monday, January 24, 2005
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