Pics from my 'Hidden from History' HS bulletin board project.

[Smarmie Doofus]

It's been two months and no one in admin has mentioned it to me. I'm thinkin' they're thinkin' there's no way for them to win on this one.

Anyway.... in case the pics aren't too clear: that's Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, Aristotle , Alice Walker, Whitman, E. Roosevelt, Warhol, Bernstein, Brando and a bunch more.

I decided to claim Brando for our side , though he was "only" bi and of arguable "historical" significance; but what the hell. Kids think he's cool. ( So do I.)

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. You're awesome

A+

[Smarmie Doofus]

14. Awww.... thanks, teech. nt

[countingbluecars]

2. Excellent! n/t

[RKP5637]

3. +1000 +++ Incredibly Great!!! n/t

[NYC_SKP]

4. Recommended.

Thanks for posting this.

:thumbsup:

[FLyellowdog]

5. Fantastic! Lessons to be learned here. nt

[JDPriestly]

6. Thanks. Although I doubt that Marlon Brando was, strictly speaking,

a homosexual. Bisexual maybe, but not strictly homosexual.

[meegbear]

8. I question whether Brando was a homosexualist myself ...

but I could always check Teh Google.

[Smarmie Doofus]

16. Bisexual... definitely. Noted as such in OP.

Not "maybe". Unless the following is in dispute:

From wiki:

>>>>In an interview with Gary Carey, for his 1976 biography The Only Contender, Brando said, "Homosexuality is so much in fashion it no longer makes news. Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences and I am not ashamed.">>>>

And I don't think it is. I'm guessing he felt pretty "homosexual" during those "experiences."

And if he had more than one liason he's had more homosexual experiences than some *exclusive* homosexuals ( or "homosexualists") as another poster curiously put it.

Anyway... it's my project so I get to choose the sides.

[JDPriestly]

18. Well, I have to say I think you are doing a great job.

Marlon Brando had a relationship with a woman somewhere in the islands of the Pacific for a long time. He also had a couple of children. So, he definitely had strong relationships with women. That is why I commented.

I support the idea of your project.

I'm sure that there are many other important historical figures who were homosexual. We just don't know about it.

[reggie the dog]

7. from one history teacher to another

you fucking rock man, you may even have stopped a gay student from killing themeselves. praise you and your work

[Smarmie Doofus]

26. Gulp. We never really know. Do we? Thanks. nt

[pgodbold]

9. Thank you from bottom of my little gay heart.

Most people can't imagine what it's like to go to school and not exist in it's pages.

[racaulk]

10. I would have loved to have seen this when I was in high school.

Your students and your school are lucky to have you. Thank you so much for doing this, and for sharing the pictures with us!

K&R

:yourock:

[Disorientedx3]

11. Your students are so fortunate to have a teacher like you. EOM

[queerart]

12. Bravo!

Well put together, and helpful to "some kids" in ways that you will never know.....


It just takes one good soul to make the difference in someones life.....


..... and this isn't the place, nor the time for such inappropriate thoughts.....


But how fucking handsome is that fellow in the photo... WOOF!


Just goes to show... you never know whom lurks behind that moniker....

[Ian David]

13. IIRC, Ben Franklin was bisexual. And Alan Turing was arguably the most important gay man in history.

Petition seeks apology for Enigma code-breaker Turing

LONDON, England (CNN) -- An online petition demanding a formal apology from the British government for its treatment of World War II code-breaker Alan Turing is gaining momentum.

Turing was subjected to chemical castration in 1952 after being found guilty of the charge of gross indecency for having a homosexual relationship, an illegal act at the time. He committed suicide two years later.

More than 19,000 people have added their names to the petition on the UK Government Web site since it opened three weeks ago, urging the government to "recognize the tragic consequences of prejudice that ended this man's life and career."

The petition was created by computer scientist John Graham-Cumming, who said he grew "mad" at the country's memory of a man he says should be considered one of its national heroes.

"I'm looking for an apology from the British government because that's where I think the wrong was done. But Turing is clearly someone of international stature," Graham-Cumming said.

Turing was best known for inventing the Bombe, a code-breaking machine that deciphered messages encoded by German Enigma machines during World War II.

More:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/09/01/alan.turing.petition/


I'd also argue that Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben was probably the most important gay person in American history (although I don't think he was technically American).

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Friedrich Wilhelm Augustin Ludolf Gerhard (Frederick William Augustus Henry Ferdinand) von Steuben also referred to as the Baron von Steuben,<1> (September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794) was a Prussian aristocrat and military officer who served as inspector general and Major general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is credited with teaching the Continental Army the essentials of military drill and discipline, helping to guide it to victory. He wrote the Revolutionary War Drill Manual, the book that became the standard United States drill manual until the War of 1812, and served as General George Washington's chief of staff in the final years of the war.

<snip>

There are many books on von Steuben. Most recently, Paul Lockhart, a professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, wrote "The Drillmaster of Valley Forge" as the first comprehensive biography of General von Steuben in more than 80 years.<12> Von Steuben has also been cited in other works, most notably by Randy Shilts in his book Conduct Unbecoming as an early example of a gay man in the military, but the evidence in this matter is inconclusive.<13>

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Wilhelm_von_Steuben

[Smarmie Doofus]

21. I covered Turing in the project; but what's your source for Franklin?

I'm intrigued as Ben is one of my favorites. The early mythology was he was a hyper-promiscuous hetero because he was friendly with so many women. But recent work categorizes those relationships as platonic. Women liked his company and vice versa.

Early day "alternate lifestyle companions"? It's hard to know. But I like the idea of BF as potentially gay. And it doesn't strike me as completely outlandish given what else we do know.

[Ian David]

22. Did a quick google...

http://archives.stupidquestion.net/sq21402.html

[1955doubledie]

15. A friend of mine wrote a play about Da Vinci...

He studied the man exhaustively, traveling across Italy to gather information. He said the rumors of homosexuality were unfounded, and was annoyed at the very suggestion.

Other sources I've come across claim that Da Vinci's sex life was ambiguous and shrouded in mystery; that he might have been totally asexual. Maybe you've got some clues I've not heard of before? :shrug:

[Smarmie Doofus]

25. Why would your friend be "annoyed" at the suggestion that Da Vinci...

... might have been gay? "Confused", I could see. "Amused".... OK. Even "incredulous" ( if he thought the idea were completely preposterous).

But "annoyed"? Sounds like friend may be a bit short on objectivity where this issue is concerned.

I'm not a Da vinci scholar and Da Vinci left no Playboy magazine interviews or youtube videos of which I... or anyone alive ....am aware. Ergo we have the historical record to consider, such as it is. Here's the wiki-quickie:


>>>>>>Beyond friendship, Leonardo kept his private life secret. His sexuality has been the subject of satire, analysis, and speculation. This trend began in the mid-16th century and was revived in the 19th and 20th centuries, most notably by Sigmund Freud.<56>

Leonardo's most intimate relationships were perhaps with his pupils Salai and Melzi, Melzi describing Leonardo's feelings for him as both loving and intensely passionate. It has been claimed since the 16th century that these relationships were of a sexual or erotic nature. Court records of 1476, when he was aged twenty-four, show that Leonardo and three other young men were charged with sodomy, and acquitted.<9> Since that date much has been written about his presumed homosexuality and its role in his art, particularly in the androgyny and eroticism manifested in John the Baptist and Bacchus and more explicitly in a number of erotic drawings.<57>>>>>>>

So we have that plus the artistic record. It's possible that he was NOT homosexual. This possibility does NOT annoy me.

And....I'm glad he wasn't burned at the stake as a consequence of the sodomy trial.

[donco6]

33. I think some people get annoyed

when they find that a gay person actually did contribute something to history. Like, it just couldn't really be possible.

[mitchtv]

17. Hope you got Alexander and his love

and Peter I Tchaikovsky
Oscar Wilde
tennesee Williams

[1955doubledie]

19. Tragic what happened to Tchaikovsky

One theory is that he was asked to "resign" rather than "be fired" when it was discovered he was gay. Resign (commit suicide), rather than be fired (be executed). He took the first option. The "official" cause of his death has been cholera, which, for various reasons, was unlikely.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky

[Smarmie Doofus]

27. I left Wilde out......more or less deliberately.

His very name is synonymous ( to a lot of people) with homosexuality and I wanted to hilite people who's sexuality was unknown and/or has been furiously "rewritten". ( Witness the quibbling within the thread re. Brando and Da Vinci. )

But Wilde's story is worth a bulletin board ( or three) of its own.

[donco6]

34. Maybe save him for gay in literature.

That's a whole board fer sure.

[LuckyLib]

20. I remember almost none of my high school teachers by name. Years from now, your students will

remember you as a teacher who took a risk to tell the truth in a system which so very rarely sees it. You will be revered and many will remember it as the first time they thought "OK, I get this."

Bravo!:yourock:

[Starry Messenger]

23. That's incredible SD!

:yourock:

[dickthegrouch]

24. Some Gay kids are so lucky these days

I would have been thrilled to see a project like that on our school wall.

Too terrified to read it in case I was identified... but thrilled none the less.

Please consider putting the whole thing online so less comfortable kids can read in private.

You are a Teacher of the highest order. Thank you

[Chovexani]

28. Not to piss on your parade or anything

Especially in a week old thread. But I find it fairly ironic that in a project entitled "Hidden From History", you seem to be going out of your way to contribute to Bisexual Invisibility. How is it "history" when you're willingly erasing entire aspects of people's lives because they don't fit into your narrow definition of "us"?

And by ironic I mean completely infuriating, insulting, and all too predictable. If I was a bisexual student in your class, this would not be affirming to me.

Edited to add that it's a particular slap in the face to try and pretend Alice Walker was monosexual, when she's had known relationships with both genders, is one of the few people who have publically identified as bisexual, and you've got a picture of the famous novel she wrote with a very prominent bisexual character (Shug Avery). Oh honey, no, you don't get to do that.

[Smarmie Doofus]

31. So... basically... you're saying that I should take the board down....

because there is an implication that Alice Walker is "homosexual" and not "bisexual. And this contributes to bisexual "invisibility".

You seem to spend a lot of time ruminating about questions about social identity and categories of marginalization and exceptionality. That in itself is kind of exceptional; but, far as I know, you DO get to do that.

But one has to appreciate the context in this kind of endeavor... as in all things, for that matter... in order to understand it. I'm not teaching Queer Theory at CUNY CLAGS; I'm not teaching at an elite private school or at a test-to-get-into Poly Prep.

I'm teaching in an inner city Special Ed public school. The kids are either borderline/average or BELOW average intelligence. ( mostly BELOW average). They are overwhelmingly from working class, non-white and/or immigrant families.

The homophobia here is palpable and *rampant*. It's also physically dangerous. It extends to the staff.

In special ed ( as with any kind of ed, come to think of it) one presents as much material as one discerns that the learner is ready and able to absorb. All teaching and learning builds on previous understanding. Bisexual invisibility , while absolutely REAL, is rooted in, and cannot exist without, the much more fundamental bias against homosexuality. ( Surely you will agree with this.)It also is not readily understood by the average sexual majoritarian _--- since the average sexual majoritarian doesn't yet have a grasp of *homosexuality* as a naturally occurring and totally healthy phenomenon.

In short, the best way to approach this issue, in my particular setting ( and I'll wager in most ps secondary school settings) is to "begin at the beginning."

So: it's 1. homosexuality 2. ( or somewhere further down the line) Bisexuality and bisexual invisibility.)

BTW you also DO get to disagree about the pedagogy. Feel free to share.

[WillParkinson]

29. I wish you had been a teacher when I was a student

A lot of angst might not have existed.

Thank you on behalf of gay and lesbian students everywhere.

[davidinalameda]

30. very cool!

thank you for doing this!

this benefits all of us

[Smarmie Doofus]

32. Thanks , all for appreciating my work here. We're going ....

... into month # 3. No one in admin has mentioned it to me... and we're supposed to change the bulletin board every month.

I'm thinking of leaving it up more or less permanently or at least until an admin tells me I have to take it down.

I'm trying to make them say *SOMETHING*. To acknowledge the existence of the board, if not the subject matter. It's hard to do one without doing the other. Hence their dilemma, I guess.

This sort of thing could get outta hand, if ya know what I mean.

Thanks again.

[donco6]

35. I think it's GREAT.

And who knows - maybe the admin actually thinks it's a good idea. But you would know that score.

We have two gay principals here who have nothing but support for gay staff and students. And it's created a very safe climate for the kids.