Like Brian Dear I started getting enormous amounts of junk mail after sending a bit of money to the ACLU. No, they don't have even an opt-out button in their donation process. My little brain can barely contain the irony of the ACLU selling my postal address and justifying by saying that they are going to somewhere in their terms. Did I mention that the other organizations are even know from where they are getting the addresses? Not that I mind anyone knowing that I've given money to that particular cause, but come on... I was giving money to the ACLU to help them make that sort of thing happen less frequently, not the other way around. Naturally I wasn't planning to make that mistake again. Reading this story makes me consider giving them a second chance if they eventually add a "please preserve my privacy and don't sell my address" button...
Marcus McLaurin was waiting in line to go to recess on November 11 at Ernest Gallet Elementary School when a classmate asked him about his mother and father. He responded that he didn't have a mother and father; instead he has two mothers. When the other child asked why, Marcus told him that it was because his mother is gay. The other child then asked what that meant, and Marcus explained, "Gay is when a girl likes another girl."
Upon hearing this, Marcus's teacher scolded him in front of his classmates, telling him that "gay" is a bad word and he should never say it at school, then sent him to the principal's office instead of letting him go to recess. The following week the school required Marcus to attend a special behavioral clinic at 6:45 in the morning, where he was forced to repeatedly write "I will never use the word 'gay' in school again."Louisiana School Punishes 7-Year-Old Boy for Talking About His Lesbian Moms I was going to write something about how surprising it is that so many people grow up being intolerant morons with this kind of education, but I'll save your time for another day and go and collect my jaw from the floor instead. (via Dave Cross, from whom I also stole the title of this entry)