The pits of prejudice hell hath given birth to a new attacker. Her name is Delana Davies, and she is the mother of a student attending the tiny Spurger Elementary School in eastern Texas.
For many years the Spurger School District has preceded its homecoming with The Woman is Requested to Pay Day ("TWIRP" day). As a part of this time-honored tradition, girls ask boys to the dance, open doors, pay for sodas and play the role customarily held by boys. Boys, in turn, dress up like girls.
With the homosexual "epidemic" now apparently sweeping across Texas, Spurger should be more sensitive.
This year, thank goodness, Davies halted the festivities and filed a lawsuit against the district because she saw the events as somehow related to homosexuality. As Davies understands completely, all homosexuals start as cross-dressers.
Of course Davies considers it seriously inappropriate for the district to encourage little kindergarteners to cross-dress. As she told the Associated Press, "It's like experimenting with drugs ... You just keep playing with it and it becomes customary ... If it's OK to dress like a girl today, then why is it not OK in the future?"
That is a good question. Perhaps I should start to be concerned about my father, who on two different occasions wore a lovely frock and a curly wig for Halloween. Or (dear God) my boyfriend made quite a lovely girl -- all dressed in pink and pearls -- this past October. Come to think of it, almost every male in my circle of acquaintances has, at some point, donned a skirt and shaved his chest.
At least Davies is protecting the more than 450 students in Spurger School District from heading down this path of sin. Heaven forbid any of those darling boys allows the chalky taste of cheap lipstick to cross his lips even once.
Perhaps lipstick is like marijuana -- the gateway drug, leading boys to all kinds of horrific things like prim dresses, mascara and silk panties.
Liberty Legal Institute, who represents Davies in the suit, issued a statement saying, "It is outrageous that a school in a small town in east Texas would encourage their 4-year-olds to be cross-dressers."
However, perhaps Davies and the Liberty Legal Institute are a bit misled in their claims. I might be wrong, but it doesn't seem like letting girls and boys switch roles for a day could be anything besides conducive to opening lines of communication between the sexes, or at least to having a bit of innocent fun.
As a substitute for TWIRP day, the two schools instead held "Camo Day," having students dress as hunters in camouflage and black boots. Now, forgive me if I am somehow incorrect, but it seems that allowing 4-year-olds to tromp around in camouflage might be just a little disturbing.
Apparently it's not disturbing for Davies, who would much rather have her children act tough and manly -- playing the role of hunters -- than even entertain the possibility that they wear a dress.
Even more upsetting about this whole terrible situation is the obvious implication by Davies and the inappropriately named "Liberty" Legal Institute that having a homosexual child would be a fate worse than torturous death.
Davies should be ashamed of herself. She has not only revealed to the nation that she is intolerant and woefully misinformed about homosexuality, but also that she is willing to take legal action to support her bigotry.
She is doing the children a great disservice by helping them incubate prejudices that will stay with them for life.
Katie Kelberlau is a history and religious studies senior. Reach her at dointhechop@yahoo.com.
