# Marcus has two mommies or "I will never use the word \`gay' in school again." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445 "2003-12-02T05:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/121 "2003-12-05T02:57:07Z")
Also, I’m beginning to think **county** has NO IDEA how the justice system works. **county** , do you know what the phrase _binding precedent_ means? I’m not attacking you, I’m curious. I can see no other reason why you would continue to attempt to maintain your argument if you did. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/122 "2003-12-05T19:10:40Z")
Having looked at the article, I’ve got to ask… Does giggling because a butch lesbian has the last name “Manley” make me a bad person? -Joe, no Nick Depalo ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/123 "2003-12-05T19:31:12Z")
Not to my knowledge. There was a guy a while ago named Luke Sissyfag, but I think it was his own idea. ---
**Author:** ![TVAA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TVAA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVAA)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/124 "2003-12-05T19:42:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > \*\*The kid is 7! This is how many/most kids that age spell! My son is 8 and this is about how most of the kids in his class spell. Here is an example from his journal: _"tomorow my stichis are geting out. It take’s a year to be a normil scar it will stert red than it will be white. I’m so prud that my stichis are geting out and i’m happy about it. "_ So go ahead and tell me how stupid and uneducated my son is. \*\* When I was eight, I would use the dictionary to look up the correct spellings of the words I wanted to use. I’ll do it – your son is stupid and uneducated. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/125 "2003-12-05T20:07:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Merijeek \* > \*\*Does giggling because a butch lesbian has the last name “Manley” make me a bad person? > \*\* Just for god’s sake don’t do it to her face. This is a fundamental rule about humor: a person has already heard every joke you can possibly make about their name ten million times already, and it WILL NOT be funny when you tell them the joke the ten million and first time. Just laugh about her behind her back. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/126 "2003-12-05T20:09:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TVAA \* > \*\*When I was eight, I would use the dictionary to look up the correct spellings of the words I wanted to use. > > I’ll do it – your son is stupid and uneducated. 🙂 \*\* I don’t believe you. I have NEVER known a chil who regularly did this, even kids with good spelling. Any teachers out there, you ever seen a kid do this? Somebody has an overinflated sense of how good a little boy he was. And is. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/127 "2003-12-05T20:26:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Left Hand of Dorkness \* > **I don’t believe you. I have NEVER known a chil who regularly did this, even kids with good spelling.** You never had a teacher simply tell you “look it up” whever you wanted a correct spelling? Becomes second nature after a while. I’m not saying I always checked with the dictionary; one has to start with at least an idea how to spell the word they want to look up. ---
**Author:** ![Ryle\_Dup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Ryle\_Dup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryle_Dup)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/128 "2003-12-05T20:33:52Z")
I remember learning how to write primarily from my dad, he taught me never to get in the habit of making mistakes with spelling, because it would be harder to relearn the correct spelling. So yeah, I could write normally at 8 years old, I don’t think its all that special either. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/129 "2003-12-05T20:59:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*Not to my knowledge. There was a guy a while ago named Luke Sissyfag, but I think it was his own idea. \*\* Yup, but then he changed it back to Luke Montgomery: [Sissyfag](http://www.poz.com/archive/february1997/inside/pozhonors.html) > [@](#): > > The AIDS activist formerly known as Luke Sissyfag changed his name back to Luke Montgomery. He’s also changed his tune. Although he is still “unfortunately homosexual,” the former ACT UP loose cannon now chooses to trash lesbians and gays. Instead of attacking politicians for “doing nothing while we die,” as he once yelled at President Clinton on national television, he now denounces “idiots spending money on AIDS willynilly with no accountability.” He also said, “The gay identity has nothing more to offer than AIDS, beer and shallowness.” Realllllllll nice. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/130 "2003-12-05T21:12:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TVAA \* > \*\*When I was eight, I would use the dictionary to look up the correct spellings of the words I wanted to use. > > I’ll do it – your son is stupid and uneducated. 🙂 \*\* I’m more concerned with him enjoying the reading and writing process right now, without saddling him with being a perfectionist. He is at the “sound it out” and “spell it like it sounds” and “try your best” stage of learning. If I made him look up every word he wasn’t sure of, he would develop a hatred of the whole process. That would be a pretty fucked up thing. Maybe you weren’t that way, but you’re a serious asshole to say that my son is stupid because he isn’t the same child that you were at his age. A lot of the time he does ask how to spell a word. And he is learning spelling in school, and we do study for his spelling tests and so on. And as he gets more confidence, things like spelling and punctuation will be more important. For right now what matters is that he is writing. Math on the other hand… he can add in his head faster than I can. Computers? He’s been installing his own software on his own computer since he was five. Before he knew how to read he used a text-to-speech program on his computer to read the instructions to online games he would find, or read emails from my mom and so on. He’s a very bright child. In any case, I’d far rather him be stupid an uneducated than be an asshole–so maybe I should rejoice that he isn’t on the same path that you were. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/131 "2003-12-05T21:15:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Left Hand of Dorkness \* > \*\*Just for god’s sake don’t do it to her face. This is a fundamental rule about humor: a person has already heard every joke you can possibly make about their name ten million times already, and it WILL NOT be funny when you tell them the joke the ten million and first time. > > Just laugh about her behind her back. > > Daniel \*\* Funny story about that. I was at a party this past weekend and was introduced to a gay couple named Adam and Steve. After a bit of giggling on my part and concerned looks from those around me and my SO, I had to tactfully explain the whole “It’s Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve” thing that homophobes put on signs. Apparently, they’d never heard that before. Needless to say I was happy they had beer at the party. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/132 "2003-12-05T21:19:49Z")
[Community supports Marcus and his moms](http://www.365gay.com/newscontent/120503laStudent.htm) > [@](#): > > “I think this child may be proud to have two moms,” said resident Jane Vice. Vice has grown children and is raising her 3-year-old granddaughter. “It would have pissed me off, too, if it would have happened to me, and I’m far from being gay,” she told the Lafayette Daily Advertiser. > > Laura Plaisance said the child " should not be made to feel ashamed to talk about his family,” she said. “I don’t think the mother is wrong. That is her personal life.” > > Joan Maturin has two grown children and grandchildren attending schools in the area told the Advertiser that “people are going to live their own lives. “This kid has just as much right as anybody else to talk about his family.” > > “Kids talk,” said Carnelia Christian. “I don’t think a 7-year-old would really understand what he is saying. The teacher should have taken him off to the side to talk to him. She didn’t have to call him out in front of everybody.” ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/133 "2003-12-05T21:51:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*[Community supports Marcus and his moms](http://www.365gay.com/newscontent/120503laStudent.htm) \*\* But… but… how can that be when [everyone in the South is an inbred, racist homophobe\*](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=227451)? - according to **Merijeek** , that is ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/134 "2003-12-05T22:22:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amanita \* > \*\*But… but… how can that be when [everyone in the South is an inbred, racist homophobe\*](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=227451)? > > - according to **Merijeek** , that is \*\* Clearly, they must have moved to the south from Milwaukee. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/135 "2003-12-05T22:24:01Z")
They had heard it before. They were just too polite to say. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/136 "2003-12-05T23:12:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amanita \* > \*\* > > Lafayette is a smallish city about 75 miles west of the state capital, Baton Rouge. The residents are overwhelmingly Catholic. It’s a very conservative, small town atmosphere. > \*\* I lived in Lafayette, 25 years ago. It is Cajun country, not redneck country. I was a clearly Jewish Yankee from New York, with very long hair, and I never got hassled once. So I am kind of surprised. I was in school, but my wife worked with real Cajuns, and they are pretty cool people. But this particular issue never came up, so my opinion might have been different if I was gay. We had no kids when we lived there, but my wife interviewed for a job at a private school. Private schools in Lafayette would be no more tolerant, and probably less, than the public schools. BTW, we owned a $40K house, and I paid $50 a year in real estate taxes. You can extrapolate the quality of the public schools easily from this. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/137 "2003-12-05T23:22:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > \*\*They had heard it before. They were just too polite to say. \*\* Normally I’d agree, but they were missing a couple feet off of their clue stick as well… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/138 "2003-12-05T23:26:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > Yo dumbfuck! > > Are you doing this on purpose, or are you actually honest to god this STUPID? > > NO ONE here said anything that could remotely, anyplace outside your severely limited capacity, be interpreted as indicating they believe “a little kid in school apparently has the same constitutional free speech rights as an adult in a rented hall.” > > What we have done, over and over and over again, is direct you to the [Tinker](http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/tinker.html) decision, which is the **United States Supreme Court case which established the binding precedent which would apply in this circumstance**. See that blue underliney thingy in the previous sentence? That is called a “hyperlink.” If you click on it, a new browser window will open and the text of that decision will appear. No, it’s not magic; it’s the miracle of science! Dammit **Otto** , that was not only one of the most impressive and on-target displays of sarcasm I’ve seen in four and a half years in this zoo; it was one of the funniest, too. Yes, he really IS that stupid. And (for a day or two at least) you’re my new hero. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/139 "2003-12-06T00:51:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Voyager \* > **I lived in Lafayette, 25 years ago. It is Cajun country, not redneck country. I was a clearly Jewish Yankee from New York, with very long hair, and I never got hassled once. So I am kind of surprised. I was in school, but my wife worked with real Cajuns, and they are pretty cool people.** My wife _is_ a real Cajun and she’s a pretty cool person. 🙂 Her entire family, too. Most Cajuns I’ve met have been laid-back, very polite, fun-loving, and seldom pushy with their religious beliefs. In conversation, I’ve told several people about my agnosticism, but only one urged me to find God, and she was so polite, friendly, and non-confrontational about it that I was smiling when she walked away. Lafayette really doesn’t seem like a particularly gay-unfriendly town. I know there’s at least one gay club or bar, possibly two. I’m not sure, as I don’t even go to the straight drinking holes. I’ve seen plenty of rainbow stickers and a few other assorted gay pride stickers on cars around town. I went to technical school here with a very open, rather-butch-looking, lesbian. I never heard anyone say an unkind word to, or about, her. While conservative overall, Lafayette is also a college town, with 16,000 students enrolled at [ULL](http://www.ull.edu). The city promotes cultural diversity with the annual [Festival International de Louisiane](http://www.festivalinternational.com/site6.php), featuring musicians, performers, artists, and vendors from around the world. We also have the second-largest Mardi Gras celebration, next to New Orleans. It’s alcohol-fueled, but still very family-friendly. [Gay Mardi Gras Balls](http://britacad.home.mindspring.com/mardigras.htm) in Lafayette are popular, too. ---
**Author:** ![bj0rn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@bj0rn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bj0rn)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445/140 "2003-12-06T02:33:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Troy McClure SF \* > \*\*Y’know, I’m as cynical and pessimistic as anyone I know, but fuckinay, once in a great while I’m still astonished at how ignorant and downright stupid some people are. \*\* who said the teacher was a woman? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marcus-has-two-mommies-or-i-will-never-use-the-word-gay-in-school-again/216445.md?page=8)