The Gazette Publishes an Offensive Slur

Yesterday's Gazette ran a letter that was unbelievable in its rudeness. First of all I'll just show you the letter, in case you didn't see it. It's from Maria Peña-Faustino, who was a member of the MCPS citizens advisory committee that reviewed the new sex-ed curriculum. She sat right next to me, we got along, but we voted opposite on nearly everything. She voted with the CRC and PFOX members, if you look at the minutes you'll see a lot of 3-to-something votes. That was the three of them trying to get some nutty thing into the classes, and failing at that.

She wrote:

I have always been proud of living in Montgomery County because of the willingness to accept diversity.

I was a member of the Montgomery County Public Schools Citizens Advisory Committee for the last two years and helped to review the new sex-ed curriculum. I did not apply for reappointment because of the committee's refusal to include ex-gays and lesbians.

Some committee members either have a relative in an alternative lifestyle or are themselves gay.

I was shocked because this "liberal" committee voted to include all kinds of lifestyles but didn't include ex-gays or ex-transgenders. What about a committee that is more inclusive of others?

I was frustrated that my voice was silenced 99 percent of the time. I have served in several boards and commissions and have always being proud of my service, but in good faith I couldn't lend my name to a curriculum that does not reflect the population of Montgomery County and does not follow Montgomery County efforts of inclusion.

I do want to thank Dr. Jerry Weast, Brian Porter and the incredible staff of curriculum and instruction for their work and dedication. In contrast, I can’t let pass the attitudes of board members Sharon Cox and Patricia O'Neill, who challenge the opposition to bring on the lawsuits and that they're ready for it.

I can see how ready they are with our taxpayer money. They would sing a different tune if they had to pay from their own pockets. This money should be used to pay for our children's programs and not for lawsuits defending their un-inclusive thinking.

As Dr. Dana Beyer stated in his July 11 letter, "we need morality that welcomes all into the community with dignity and respect."

Maria Peña-Faustino, Laytonsville

The writer ran for County Council in 1998 and is a former member of the Citizens Advisory Committee.
Open forum: All-inclusive committee does not include ex-gays

OK, first of all, the committee included a representative of PFOX, the Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays. That rep was Peter Sprigg, of the Family Research Council. That's who they wanted -- they could have submitted names of any of the tens of thousands of "ex-gays" out there, but they couldn't find any instead they submitted Spriggs' name. He announced earlier this year that he is not "ex-gay," and described himself as "everstraight." If there are no "ex-gays" on the committee, it's really their own fault.

Second, these three tried to introduce language to the classes suggesting that "ex-gay" was a kind of sexual orientation. It's not. Never was, never will be. The varieties that are recognized everywhere are Heterosexual, Bisexual, Homosexual. If you were to describe a person who used to be gay and is now straight, their sexual orientation is Heterosexual. They're included already, end of story.

Uh, third, nobody ever silenced Maria's voice, ever. The CRC's Ruth Jacobs was asked to pipe down a couple of times, when she interrupted and tried to dominate the discussion, but I don't recall any instance of Maria being silenced. It would have been correct to say that most people didn't agree with her most of the time, but ... wow, that's why you put together a committee instead of just having one person decide everything, so you can have different opinions.

And the expense of a lawsuit, I'm sorry, that reasoning doesn't hold up, either. She is advising the school district to develop curricula designed to minimize the threat of lawsuits? No, that's not the ideal we look for here. Unfortunately they have to keep that in mind, but the reason we have some of the best schools in the country is that MCPS develops curricula to best educate our children. If you have to fight in court to do that, some board members have said, OK, we'll do it, let's roll.

But that's nothing, I wouldn't have written anything here if it was just that.

Her last sentence is the one that goes over the line:

As Dr. Dana Beyer stated in his July 11 letter, "we need morality that welcomes all into the community with dignity and respect."

Dr. Dana Beyer had a letter published in the Gazette on June 11th (HERE), where she encouraged science-based sex-ed in Montgomery County schools.

I said "she."

Maria Peña-Faustino knows Dana Beyer personally, I have seen them converse many times. Dr. Beyer is a well-known member of our community, who ran for office this last year and works in highly visible positions within the community. Dr. Beyer is a transgender woman. She is not a "he," and Maria knows that perfectly well.

In one citizens advisory committee meeting, the CRC's representative made a reference to Dr. Beyer as "him," and the other members, including me, were outraged. Several of us independently contacted the offender privately, and several of us informed the committee chair that a second offense would not be allowed.

When somebody makes a life-changing decision as important and difficult as Dana has made, they deserve our respect. You don't have to understand it or even approve of it, but Dana is a woman, and the feminine pronoun applies.

This wasn't an accident, Maria knew exactly what she was saying here. Out of one side of her mouth she's whining because PFOX didn't appoint an "ex-gay" to the committee, and that "ex-gays" don't get any respect, and out of the other side of her mouth she's showing disrespect and the absence of recognition of the reality of transgender people.

The Gazette should be ashamed of themselves, as well. They know who Dana Beyer is. Why did they publish this ugly slur? Is there an editorial staff over there, or not? Do they read the news before they print it?

Listen, it's easy to make a mistake here -- the English language forces us to choose the gender of pronouns, and transgender people challenge that usually-intuitive choice of words. This was a running joke in Rent, as I recall, everybody kept referring to the transvestite character as "him - I mean, her" throughout the play. That's a mistake, anybody can do it, you apologize and move on.

This was not a mistake. This was profound, unforgivable rudeness.

Here are a few links about Dana, mostly from the time of her campaign for Delegate last year.

Her campaign web site has lots of information about her.

Political Transition Democrat Dana Beyer fights to be Maryland's first transgender delegate A nice feature story in the Metro Weekly

MD-Delegate 18 - Dr. Dana Beyer - A Winning Transgendered Candidate? Daily Kos followed the race

A prescription for change: Transgender seeks district 18 house of delegate seat From the wonderful Silver Chips student paper at Montgomery Blair High School.
(Silver Chips at Montgomery Blair)

Trans candidate takes aim at political barriers: Beyer would be first elected statewide in Md. The Blade tells the story.

There was no mistake made here. Maria should apologize, and the Gazette should, too.