Taking a cue from Yale DKE pledges, students of North High School in Eastlake, Ohio, had this to say about the opposing team:
“No teachers or parents from the sidelines intervened to stop the problem, and this chant occurred three times in the first three minutes of the game,” says the videographer.
But don’t worry. At some point, the principal will make a timid, impersonal gesture acknowledging it.
Principal Chauby from North High School was quoted as saying that she could not suspend all 300 to 400 students that were in the video, but she would make sure she made announcements over the PA that the acts were wrong.
Within the same county, Mentor High School has had its own share of anti-gay slurs against its students. They have had four suicides within two years due to [abuse for] being gay, handicapped, or simply wearing pink.
The powder-blue team won the game, 34-21.
As a ‘gay’ identified (slightly bi-sexual?) man, my reaction to hearing ANYONE, even the very young, casually use the term ‘gay’ and/or ‘homo’ as a derogatory term is one of being slighted, marginalized and put down. It offends me and tells me that gay people are shit. One can banter all one wants to about what it means to them or how it’s ok or whatever. The fact remains that I am offended and I bet most all gay and bi identified people feel the same way. Period. Nothing that was said above will change how these words affect me.… Read more »
I just heard from a Jewish man today who won’t say the word Jew because of the way he was treated when he was young. Now you won’t dare say that he is overreacting. Hate always has to start somewhere.
All I’m saying is that it is not overreacting to say that what these kids were chanting is hateful. They certainly knew what they were doing and what they were saying meant.
Chris: The question I have for you is what is your end game here? Is your goal the banning of these words? Would you like to make it illegal to utter the word “faggot,” “nigger” and “homo?” I understand these are not pleasant terms and I do believe the school administrators should take action here to prevent students from chanting slurs at one another, but for all of your railing I’m not sure what it is you’re hoping to accomplish. People will always say dumb things. Hateful things. It doesn’t make it right, but that’s just how it is. What… Read more »
I think we’re kidding ourselves if we think a PA announcement is going to effect change in bleacher behavior. Can you punish that mob after the fact? Not well and not effectively. But can you prevent it from happening again? Absolutely. It could take something as simple as having the principal attend the game and sit among the crowd.
“That’s just how it is” is just an irresponsible, impotent response to hate speech. A complacent administration only facilitates this behavior when its responsibility is to do the opposite.
Sorry, but I have a problem terming this hate speech. Inappropriate? Offensive? Yes, to many people that’s true. But hate speech? I think it goes too far. But according to you, anyone who disagrees with your point of view is “irresponsible.” I think that shows a definite level of arrogance regarding an issue that is not black and white. You cannot prove this is hate speech. I personally think it’s inappropriate and I wouldn’t have joined in, but I have doubts as to whether these people were actively hating on homosexuals. I believe they weren’t thinking it through and getting… Read more »
Aaron: Sorry, I should clarify. Also, I truly have to hand it to you for keeping these conversations going and promoting a logical debate from differing perspectives. (You got a similar shout-out here,and I have to agree.) My point was that for an observer to say “That’s just how it is,” as you did, is just stating the obvious, and stating the truth. To be sure, “that” is definitely “how it is.” High-school boys, especially in packs, are nightmares. I was one of them once. But for a school to use that as philosophy is wrong. For an administrator to… Read more »
See north student’s comments above. QED.
Yes, I could and should have been less general with my statement. But I still hold from my own experiences that the majority of the people like those who dismiss the discussion of this chant at the football game as political correctness gone mad- people who, unlike you, don’t see anything inappropriate about it – do so because they do not respect gays. I agree with you that this shouldn’t be classified as hate speech. But to say that these kids don’t know what they’re saying or how it could be construed, I just don’t understand how that is possible.… Read more »
so you respect gays but have no problem screaming the word faggot? You’re either an idiot, a hypocrite, a liar or all of the above. Either way, I’m just glad I no longer live in Ohio with idiot douches like YOU.
No, Daddy Files. If you read my responses more closely I never advocate banning slurs, as if this were even possible. The points I made were 1) These certainly are gay slurs and hurt gay children, especially closeted ones, no matter how people protest that “faggot” is not aimed at gays. 2) The kids starting the chant deserve to be punished – kids do NOT have free speech in school, after all, and something that promotes an unsafe environment in a place where all children are required to be during a weekday should certainly not be left unpunished. 3) The… Read more »
chris it isnt that i dont have respect for gays, but im not going to treat you any different than my straight friends just because i think you may be offended, people like you want power for gays, not equality, equality means everybody treated the same, no exceptions, i agree that to call an open gay man a faggot is clearly wrong, or to alienate him or discriminate against him is worse, but to turn an obvious school rally chant, be it an immature one, into a hate crime that “deserves punishment” is in a way just as bad as… Read more »
What you say in the first paragraph doesn’t make sense! You say that everyone should be treated the same, no exceptions. But then you say it is clearly wrong to call a gay man faggot, while at the same time we should not make a big deal out of you calling a football team faggots. That doesn’t sound like equal treatment to me. I’m not arguing for extra power for gays. What I am arguing is we treat everybody equally in not calling them faggot. Your straight friends don’t have slurs against their sexual orientation being thrown around as insults.… Read more »
By the way, it’s funny how you harp on equal treatment when gays still can’t get married, serve openly in the military, or walk down the street holding hands without being a spectacle. But you’re right, asking people not to use the word faggot is far worse than all of those things.
Thank you, Chris for your insightful comments. Neighboring Mentor, Ohio is my hometown. I’m sick and tired of hearing, “Kids will be kids,” and “We’ve exchanged chants like this for years…” and “No harm is intended..” and “It is all in fun…” That’s BS. The point is that these are disrespectful slurs that perpetuate the notion that gay and lesbian people are somehow not worthy or valuable. If you argue that “faggot” and “homo” are being used generically in these “chants” and that the chanters don’t REALLY mean that the football players are actually gay, then step back and substitute… Read more »
Exactly. And people will continue to argue that they have “alternate meanings,” which isn’t true for racial slurs. But is it really a coincidence that “homos” and “faggots” are both used to describe members of this rivalry? The fact that these words are used very frequently with each other is a huge sign to me that there is more meaning to them than just “stupid.” Why people are so intent to claim there is not when they could just as easily stop using offensive language boggles my mind. Somehow “free speech” usually gets dragged into that rationale, as to suggest… Read more »
Is it an inappropriate chant? Of course. Is trying to stop an entire mob of people chanting at a football game going to work? Probably not. In fact, it will lead the chanters to believe in their hate speech even further. One part of teaching is knowing when and how to respond to student behavior. Sometimes, an immediate response will not be effective, but a serious discussion after will be. Honestly, the principal that is characterized as “timid” above is quite courageous, imo, for even attempting to remind the mob of human decency and the results of their speech. Someone… Read more »
I attended Willoughby South, the “powder-blue faggots” school, and this is being taken totally out of context. Every single years chants of “powder-blue faggots” and “halloween homos” (Eastlake North, the other high school, wears the colors orange and black) are exchanged at sporting events between these two teams and it has been happening for decades. The rivalry itself is called the Civil War which no one has taken the time to point out or fuss about, so why not make this about race as well. The reason this is “news” now is because some uptight, easily offended, wannabe politician sent… Read more »
The thing is, Will, that a Civil War is by definition a war between factions in a single nation. Obviously the adjective was meant to denote rivalry inside a single county. Civil Wars have happened all over the world, so no connotation of race is immediately drawn. At the same time, “halloween homos” and “powder blue faggots” both contain gay slurs. Sure, they’re not directed at gays (or at least not entirely at gays). But they do promote a negative connotation of homosexuality. Why should calling them gay names be an insult? The issue of children killing themselves over bullying… Read more »
chris- you are a fine example of what Will is saying. Anyways, if you knew more about what you were getting fussy about mr smarty pants, this is north and south, south is the south rebels… they call it the civil war because of what?- the american civil war, the topic?- Race. there ya go, now you know. so how about you complain about the fact that this situation is racist! ohh myyy, boys will be boys. I can garuntee 100% that these gay slurs are not isolated to good old north east Ohio, but in every town in every… Read more »
Obviously referencing the Civil War (which, if you knew any history at all, was hardly about race) doesn’t make something racist. You know the difference here, you’re just playing dumb (and doing a damn good job). So the gay slurs aren’t isolated to your hometown – I’ll agree, and also add that doesn’t make them right anywhere. Why do so many people think that “everyone else is doing it” is such a good rationale for anything? The point is the use of these slurs in any instance stems from people pushing the idea that gays are inferior. That’s how these… Read more »
you are the lamest dude on earth you should be nominated for douchebag of the year chris
honestly chris if anybody was insulting gays we would have said powder blue homosexuals im white but i dont get mad every time somebody asks for a “cracker” like OHHH THAT COULD MEAN A RACIST COMMENT ABOUT ME IF YOU WERE TO USE IT IN A DIFFERENT CONTEXT!!!…. ya douchebag
grow up.. your the kind of dude who sues mcdonalds for their coffee being too hot.. your a str8 douche
Sure. Just like when the KKK goes around shouting the “n word,” they’re not insulting blacks. Because if they meant to insult blacks, they’d be screaming “blacks” instead. Right? Faggot is a pejorative term for gays. You and your inbred buddies use it to insult people by comparing them to gays. Obviously if you’re implying that comparing someone to a homosexual should upset them, By the way, I’m not suing anybody. I’m not talking about any legal action at all. You know who has been talking about suing in this incident? Parents who believe you precious little children shouldn’t have… Read more »
yea but the kkk is directing the n word towards blacks.. were directing faggot towards opposing teams.. horrible example douchebag.. learn about context faggot
It’s not such a bad example after all, because you as well as I know that anybody would be chastised for using the word “nigger,” whether it be directed at blacks or not. Look up the news story about how a politician lost his job for using the adjective niggardly – which has no connection to the n word at all.
It’s also funny how you call me a faggot while telling me to “learn about context.” Well in this context, you are calling a gay man faggot. What is your excuse for using that word now?
my excuse is quite simple chris, the context from which i used the word “faggot” doesnt have anything to do with your sexual preference if you hadnt have told me about you being gay id be none the wiser, but due to the new age meaning of the word “faggot” in my generations slang, the sexual preference you have has nothing to do with whether or not i think you are a fag.. lets not forget that gay used to mean happy and faggot was a bundle of sticks am i right, the point im trying to make chris, is… Read more »
First, no one accused you of a hate crime, not even the author of this article. We’re just pointing out that in the wake of too many teen suicides, people are still careless about harmful epithets. I disagree that individuals choose to give meaning to words. Otherwise, language would be completely useless. Society chooses to give meaning to words – that is why you as a group recognized the word fag was an insult. If you didn’t think the team would be affected by it at all, if you didn’t what was the point of shouting it? Right now, there… Read more »
i agree chris that nobody should ever be assaulted, mentally or physically by anyone for something as stupid as their sexual preference, ok. but you need to understand that your fighting a losing battle bro, bigots are going to be bigots, nothing will ever change this, but coming from someone who knows north high, all this media attention is just going to make the powder blue faggots, and halloween homo, chants more powerful, now not only are the school spirit kids going to be saying it, but the hillbilly drunk racist kids are going to be shouting it just for… Read more »
You’re probably right, the media attention will make the chants more powerful among the kids. Because the mark of the immature is to not be able to admit wrongdoing. However, it will have the opposite effect on the principal and school administrators. They will not want anymore attention like this. I think more powerful chants will have more strict consequences. I doubt the students would be so quick to chant this if they knew that football games would no longer be open to the public for doing so. You might think that is too much of a punishment, but from… Read more »
Wow. They are kids they use words like “fag” and “queer” all the time to each other! It means nothing more than dumb or stupid. And they are rival schools well no wonder? I guarantee noone on the “powder blue faggots” team cared much, probably motivated them more to win… This is stupid
That Kid, I’m sick of hearing the excuse that “fag” and “queer” mean nothing more than stupid, when those words so conveniently appear in situations involving two guys acting closer than straight guys deem acceptable, or something considered too girly for guys like “powder blue” uniforms. So maybe you don’t care that people use gay slurs – but at least own up to it instead of denying the FACT that they ARE gay slurs. I mean, come on. People are scared to use the harmless adjective “niggardly,” which has no etymological connection to the “N word.” But they’ll contend that… Read more »
This is the school’s website: http://www.weschools.org/NorthHigh.cfm
This is the principal’s number: (440) 975-3692
This is the school email: [email protected]
Contact them and let them know how reprehensible this is. Force them to make an actual statement against hate.