Shhh! Homosexuality still in the closet in French classrooms

[xchrom]

http://beyond.blogs.france24.com/article/2012/10/27/french-minister-out-gay-homosexual-historic-figures-school-textbooks-rim-0



A French minister opened an educational bees’ nest this week with her proposal to “out” historic figures in school textbooks. Socialist Minister for Women and Government Spokesperson Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said that the homosexuality of gay authors and icons should no longer go ignored, especially when their sexuality played an important part in their work.

“Today, school textbooks persist in remaining silent about the gay, lesbian or transsexual orientation of certain historical figures or authors, even when it explains a large part of their work,” she said, citing 19th century poet Arthur Rimbaud as an example.

Not surprisingly, Vallaud-Belkacem’s proposal was met with a chorus of disapproval from French conservatives. One political commentator on chat radio RMC suggested that Vallaud-Belkacem was mentally confused, claiming that “Rimbaud would be reduced to only his homosexuality,” while secretary general of the conservative UMP party Bruno Beschizza accused her of "trying to impose a certain vision of family by rewriting the history of literature”. Conservative author Benoît Rayski called the idea “laughable”.

In response, Vallaud-Belkacem – who is incidentally a keen supporter of the Association Rimbaud, a support and awareness group for young victims of homophobia – called on her critics to “take into the consideration the suffering of [LBGT school children] who consider themselves abnormal”.

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. Huge rec. n/t