Horseshit, I pay large sums to keep the schools operating and I can't even go in and walk around. You are not being discriminated against until you have to do what others don't.

So by that argument, a gay marriage ban is not discriminatory.


That's complete and utter bullshit.

ewwww, I gotta dance with gurrls? They have cooties!

What are, you 8 years old?

Sorry, but this is just ridiculous. Be an adult and learn to be polite to the other half of the human race.

Yes it's discrimination. Yes it's a stupid rule. Yes it's a good thing to dance with the opp. sex just for the socialization skills, BUT it should be optional.

I've already been over this. I dont personally have any problem dancing with girls as such - in fact, in my PE class, there're quite a few more girls I'd like to dance with than boys - but I think it's ridiculous and wrong to make it a RULE that you HAVE to dance with the opposite sex.

Frivolous Lawsuit Alert!

I always thought it was a stupid irony that school is supposed to prepare you for life but goes out of it's way to make it the least like real life as possible.

Who said it's supposed to prepare you for life? It's supposed to give you basic knowledge that will make you useful to society and keep you someplace where your folks won't have to keep track of you until you're old enough to move into their basement.

if you don't sound like an 8 year old boy, then you sound like a whining misogynist. Either way, it's a very unappealing quality. In my opinion, you should concentrate your efforts on getting along with people, rather than disruptive divisiveness.

I'm certainly extremely tired of hearing you snivel about it.

Why not take a different tack and learn to dance like a dream, and make everyone, male and female, squeal with happiness? Be a fabulous gay man who has better social skills than the clueless hets.

In that case it failed miserably. Most of what I know I learned AFTER school.
And anything I learned in school I forgot. I DO remember the humiliation and abuse though.

I like you Ibram (not that you need approval for anything, esp. my approval!- just sayin') but sometimes, just sometimes, it seems that you kinda like creating controversy where none exsists.

What if the school policy said this: " A student will dance with another student of a differing race or ethnic group. If student does not comply, student will have grade lowered by one letter grade"--? Would you feel upset about this?

I have to say, this post bugs me. Gay men shouldn't be expected to be "fabulous," and there is very little to be gained from it except for people's polite toleration, which IMO isn't really worth much. A person growing up in a society that does not provide him with the same basic civil rights as everyone else shouldn't be expected to just "get along" with people.

As to this particular issue, it is a stupid rule. As a dancer, I don't see dance as necessarily referring to sexual partnership -- for instance, one of the most famous tango pairs is a brother and sister -- but I believe that the policy itself is making that connection. If the person who made the rule saw no connection between dance and sex, then why would they need to specify the sex of the participants?

I think that this is an issue worth raising, to a certain extent, although not worth suing over or getting suspended for. Maybe an op-ed piece or letter in the school paper would be appropriate.

I don't want to speak for him, but my impression of Ibram's point is not "should I do this?" It's "is it discrimination?"

you're right, gay men shouldn't have to be "fabulous"--I don't believe that, but the comment was meant to be somewhat tongue in cheek antidote to his pathetic mysoginist whining.

Gay men SHOULD, however, learn to deal in social situations with women.