Silent war

[springyzone]

Wow, just... wow.

I saw this news online.

‘Silent civil war’: Irish teacher jailed for refusing to call boy a girl (msn.com)

This teacher has not only lost his job but is jailed indefinitely for failing to comply and call a boy a girl. Or use the term 'they'.

I particularly dislike the term 'they' for one person as the term is plural. The word 'it' would be more appropriate, in fact, or if someone is really uncomfortable, just call the child by name.

But the part that resonates with me is further down in the report, where it says that we are at the stage of compelling people to say things they don't believe in.

I'm not arguing the rights or wrongs of someone 'transitioning'.

Just saying we should allow people their personal beliefs. Calling the child by name or 'him' is not a crime worth jailing anyone for, it is a travesty of justice.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

I would just refer to everyone as "mate" as in "maaaate"

[ambercat16]

Maybe it's just me......but if it is against 'your principles' to refer to a person by the gender and pronouns they wish to be referred to by, maybe it's time to have a close look at your principles🤔

I don't mean you Springy, I'm referring to the teacher who has chosen to take a stand on this matter.  

[sandypebbles]

Well apparently this 'teacher' was enough of a transphobic to happily put their career down the toilet all because they did'nt want to say a word 

'Back in the day' (even today) would this little man have the same attitude towards people of colour? who have 'disabilities' ? women in general? 

prejudice is prejudice, regardless of your 'reason' 

Good riddance 

[countessalmirena]

In my view, we should not mangle the meaning of words to serve an agenda with politically correct overtones of the day or to change the basis of discussions. Of course word meanings can and do change over time, but a word that serves a particular and useful grammatical function is not - in my opinion - a good choice for repurposing.

English already has far fewer pronouns than it used to have. There is already confusion when we use “you” in a context where there is more than one possible “you”. 

[not_for_sale2024]

I recently saw Germaine Greer, aged 84, interviewed by David Wenham. He asked about her views on transgenderism. She replied that she doesn't like discussing the subject, but never-the-less would respond. She said 'gender' is real, but imaginary, so you can change it, whereas 'sex' is real, but you can't change it. I guess the teacher and the student didn't agree on such a definition and took it all to heart.

Worse however are the legal and political views across the world. A teacher can be jailed in a Western country for not respecting a student's self-identity, yet in some non-Western  countries you can be jailed (or worse) for taking on a transgender identity. We like to think of ourselves as more progressive and civilised compared to thousands of years ago. But the overall state of the world at the moment makes me wonder.

[*sons_n_daughters*]

You have to remember that we now have kids that identify as dogs and have to be treated accordingly at school. They have to be allowed to crawl around like a dog. Sleep when they feel like it. Water dishes and food bowls have to be provided. If they want to be taken for a walk, then a teacher must put on their collar and lead and take them. Heck, they even have to have areas where they can **bleep** their leg and relieve themselves.

How do I know this? My cousin is a teacher at a Catholic high school in Melbourne. They have 4 of them. Apparently there are some at a local high school here too. It's got beyond ridiculous with "rights". Where are people's rights not to have to be subjected to this tripe?

[cam-2793]

While I am totally understand not wanting to identify as Human (people are stupid! and I have often felt Alien{or at least not human}) , that is taking things too far!! In my day they would be in therapy and heavily medicated. In earlier times the would have had that nonsense thrashed out of them.

On the sex/gender issue, I'm kinda glad there is more awareness these days, especially for intersex and non binary people. But I'm a bit concerned about the perceived huge increase in young people. Makes me wonder if they feel they have to? or are they exposed to too many chemicals which are messing with them. 

There has always been a proportion of people who were transgender or non binary, many indigenous groups around the world have had a special, well respected role for them in their communities ( That being said some have had people who identify as dogs,bears or jaguars etc as well).

[springyzone]

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@sandypebbles wrote:

Well apparently this 'teacher' was enough of a transphobic to happily put their career down the toilet all because they did'nt want to say a word 

'Back in the day' (even today) would this little man have the same attitude towards people of colour? who have 'disabilities' ? women in general? 

prejudice is prejudice, regardless of your 'reason' 

Good riddance 

---

But should people be jailed indefinitely because of a prejudice, if it isn't actually harming someone?

This man may have been good at his job. Obviously not the ideal teacher for that particular student but that can be so with students for a whole range of reasons & it isn't that hard to just.. allocate a different teacher.

If the teacher sought out the child or harrassed that child it might be a different matter.

I think there is a huge danger with this case. Massive. I don't know all the details of it but on the surface it looks as if this man has been jailed because he has an opinion that people might not agree with or may not like.

[myoclon1cjerk]

Sky News...say no more.