Double-Secret Probation

Trevor Hoppe (a GS alum who wrote about the ADF and DPI) has a new entry in his blog, including an email he got back from Tom Winton after Trevor wrote Tom about the situation.

http://www.trevorhoppe.com/blog/

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Apparently, Tom has super-secret reasons i was fired and no one knows them but him. In fact, I may have been on double-secret probation. But it angers me that Tom insinuates that I'm lying about something, that I secretly know why I was fired and that it has nothing to do with the ADF or homophobia.

When Tom and I met, I told him one thing I found insulting was his implication that I can't recognize homophobia or that I cling to it as some sort of victim. I've been queer, I've been out, I've been in sexuality studies long enough to recognize homophobia when I encounter it either directly or indirectly. Not allowing the word "sexuality" on the GSE website because it might upset the ADF is homophobia. Shutting down the Human Sexuality film series because it angers the ADF is homophobia. Removing films that parents have approved for their children because the ADF doesn't like the films because of the way they deal with human sexuality is homophobia.

They can't deny doing any of these things. So why won't they explain why they are acceding to the demands of the ADF? There must be some reason. Tom Watson and Mary Winton need to say what that reason is.

They also need to stop insinuating that I am lying about why I got fired. I got fired because I'm openly queer, a fact easily found with a simple Google search. I got fired because I teach and write in the area of sexuality studies. I got fired because I identifed homophobic actions as homophobic. If they have anything beyond that, I would love to hear it.