[Wōdnes-dæg] A "Rebel" Gay-Straight Alliance in the Waterloo Catholic District School Board

Introduction
Interesting Local Developments
Over-Great Expectations
Closing
References

{A standard board for a Gay-Straight alliance group. Image from search.com.}

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Introduction

The matter of "sexual minority youth" in Catholic schools came to the fore again recently.

This time, removed from the national coverage afforded the matter in Toronto schools, there seems to be at least some hope in the Kitchener region as this article in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record by Liz Monteiro implies.

One of the key players in this situation, Anthony Piscitelli, is undoubtedly right that it's a divisive issue that would do more harm than good for the students as camaraderie amongst teachers would certainly take a hit if they were forced to take a side.²

Nonetheless the presence of students with a variety of sexual orientations within Catholic schools is still an important issue that needs to be addressed.

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Interesting Local Developments

What's most interesting here is the simple fact that Catholic groups around the Kitchener-Waterloo region don't seem to have any problem with it.

A consultant for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board from the Congregation of the Resurrection (an Institute of Consecrated Life for men), Rev. Fred Scinto, said that students shouldn't have to live in fear of being persecuted because of their sexual orientation - he even went so far as to quote St. Augustine, saying "We are a church of saints and sinners but Christ is still within it."³

In fact, this issue is particularly newsworthy because it's already playing out a little bit differently than it did in the province's capital. For the Kitchener-Waterloo region already has a school that has a group that is essentially the same as the oh-so-feared gay-straight-alliances. This school is St. Mary's High School and it sounds like the group there has done nothing but good for all of the students involved.

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Over-Great Expectations

So why are gay-straight alliances still such a big deal elsewhere? It seems like there's very little justification for it outside of some kind of ungrounded fear that these alliances are going to serve as homosexual hook-up groups, at least that can be inferred from the emphasis that these articles put on the Church's message of chastity for adolescents.

I think that Luisa D'Amato hits the nail on the head when she writes:

"The central problem here is the medieval logic of Catholic thought, slammed into modern North American culture with its deep concern for human rights. According to Church teachings, every person must be loved, gay people included, but not their sexual acts, which the Church teaches are sinful and morally disordered, both because they occur outside Church-sanctioned marriage and because children cannot be born from them."⁴

The issue here is a weird paradox in Catholic teaching that allows for all sorts of people to be accepted by the Church but that denies that at least a part of every person's identity - what makes them a complete person - is sexual.

As D'Amato goes on to point out, the denial of this aspect of people as part of accepting them "hasn’t worked out so well for the priesthood and, it is increasingly clear, presents nothing more than a delusional fantasy in the real lives of real people."⁴

Real lives aren't so neatly compartmentalized. Nor can real people easily section themselves off. Trying to do both just makes for a hardened mass of knots that even Alexander the Great couldn't cut through.

Hopefully, the example set by St. Mary's will be seen by other schools and by other boards, and support groups for students of any "sexual minority" will spring up in other Catholic schools.¹

At least then, as a new teacher, there'd be one less thing to disagree on with the majority of Catholic schools.

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Closing

Check back with this blog on Friday for a hunt for the good in Johnny English Reborn.

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References

1. Monteiro, Liz. "Kitchener Catholic high school already has a gay-support group." TheRecord.com 2 May 2012.

2. Simone, Rose. "Fear of ‘divisive’ discussion ends gay-straight alliance group motion." TheRecord.com 29 April 2012.

3. Monteiro, Liz. "Schools have duty to provide safe environment, former student tells board." TheRecord.com 30 April 2012.

4. D'Amato, Luisa. "D’Amato: Piscitelli has it right — the Catholic school board should listen." TheRecord.com 2 May 2012.

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[Wōdnes-dæg] What's Korean for Rainbow?

The signs read: "No Discrimination Against LGBT." Image copyright M. Solis, 2008.

South Korea is a curious country. Socially conservative, yet technologically super-progressive. Think America of the 1950s but add things like LG and Samsung and the internet you've basically got South Korean society as it appears to an outsider. And though the country maintains its traditional exterior, all of that technology allows a number of sub-cultures to thrive.

Among these subcultures is the homosexual set.

What drew my attention to this subculture in particular is an article from the LA Times,¹ discovered through a Google Alert for "Korea Culture." The article tells the tale of Seok-Cheon Hong, a prominent actor who came out in 2000 after struggling with the issue for a number of years.

Hong's move led to the destruction of his career, and to a nosedive in his own feelings of self-worth. For as an openly gay celebrity he was ostracized,¹ and in a society that prizes community and the group as a whole, to be shunned is more than just getting dropped from your "scene" or city - it's like being an exile within your native land's borders.

Luckily, a 2003 scriptwriter with an idea for a show about a gay man coming out and facing complex social issues revived Hong's career.¹ Now he is probably the most prominent gay activist in South Korea.

But what came before? What's the history of homosexuality in South Korea?

Somewhat unsurprisingly, it's a history similar to that within Western culture.

In South Korea's past, homosexuality was regarded as being entirely abnormal and anomalous. Not because of Christian ideas (as is the case with the West, at least after Christianity's rise), but because of Confucian ones. For part of the filial piety that Confucianism so stresses regards marriage and procreation as essential parts of a son's duty to his father (pressures on to continue the line, produce the next generation of your family, etc.).²

Yet, as early as the Silla dynasty (57 BC to 935 AD) homosexuality was practiced among an elite warrior class known as the hwarang. At least, that's what's inferred from contemporary poetry about this class, and from the different meanings and mutations of the word down through the centuries.²

The Goryeo period (918-1392) also saw homosexuality practiced among the upper classes. Also, during this brief period, a new euphemism for it came about: yongyang-chi-chong (meaning the dragon and the son, a mix of two male symbols).²

In the Joseon dynasty that followed (1392-1897) the upper middle class completely eschewed homosexuality publicly, but engaged in it privately. Interestingly, it was also practiced at the opposite end of the class spectrum in rural Korea, where there were travelling male prostitutes.² The term used for these men is namsadang, which more literally means actor or theatrical performer.²

In spite of this thread found throughout much of South Korea's history, the country's Confucian ideals are slow to change and homosexuality remains something regarded as "psychologically deviant, sociologically detrimental and morally corrupt."²

Jumping ahead to the nineties, students at Yonsei and Seoul National Universities were organizing themselves and getting gay rights advocacy groups together.

It's super significant that these students were at Yonsei and Seoul National Universities because those are two of the three most prestigious schools in the entire country (the other being Korea University). These schools' prestige meant that their students weren't uneducated lowlifes, but instead bright up-and-comers - thereby casting serious doubt on an old South Korean stereotype that homosexuals are depraved misfits from only the lowest rungs of society.²

These student movements were met with a media response that ranged from neutral to positive - a subculture was given a voice.

Several TV shows and campaigns and rallies followed, but the movement continued to be attacked by the more conservative South Koreans (yes, generally older), and by Christian groups.

For when Confucianism has been passed over, any major shift in South Korean society needs to get by the second most influential philosophy in South Korea: Christianity (of a Protestant and Catholic conservative sort). As such, at least according to Sang-Hoong Song, the arguments against homosexuality by Christian groups are based in the Bible rather than stats or other data which makes them seem less than sturdy.³

Thus, the fight for gay rights continues.

What's rather extraordinary about all of this is that any conservative, sex segregating society (like South Korea) paradoxically provides a socially acceptable set of limits that can act as a veneer over homosexual relationships.

After all, closeness between men is definitely something entrenched in South Korean culture - Confucianism might condemn homosexuality as much as the Old Testament does, but it also highly values close friendships. That's why it's not weird for men to walk down the street in Seoul or Busan or Incheon holding hands (though possibly buzzed or drunk while doing so), and women do the same (alcohol apparently less of a factor in this case).

Of course, that's not to say that all men holding hands on the South Korean streets at night are secretly gay, nor that Confucian mores are some kind of subterfuge.

Rather, such a strict philosophy creates a very fine line, and as long as nothing runs afoul of that line publicly, then no harm is done to anyone's public image. It's only when something leaks into, or someone bravely opens up in public as Hong Seok-Cheon did that the person's place in that society is jeopardized.

Having no veneer at all is definitely a better option, and one that's slowly becoming the case for South Korea. Older and more traditional South Koreans might still wonder what a homosexual is or think that it's an act against nature, but the younger generation is sure to encourage and create a South Korea that is more accepting and open.

What do you think about the fight for gay rights in conservative societies like South Korea's? Just toss your thoughts into the comment box below.

And check back on Friday for my review of S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Story.


References

1. Glionna, John M. "Gay South Korean Actor Throws Open Closet Door." L.A. Times. March 5, 2012.

2. Kim, Young-Gwan and Sook-Ja Hahn. "Homosexuality in ancient and modern Korea." Culture, Health & Sexuality, January–February 2006; 8(1): 59–65.

3. Song, Sang-Hoon. "The gay situation in Korea." Yawning Bread. November 1999.