I had almost overlooked that in 2006 an essay of mine was officially published by a trade publisher (not self-published). It was published under my nickname (then pen-name) 'Bill'.
The essay is “Editorial: Teaching about Homosexuality in Public High Schools”, originally posted in late 2004, after I had been subbing for a while. (That would come to a head in late 2005, but that’s another discussion, and also the plot for a screenplay I am working on now, already embedded as a subordinate background incident in my completed 'Second Epiphany').
The essay was picked up for the 2006 anthology Teenage Sexuality: Opposing Viewpoints, in a series published by Greenhaven Press of Thomson Gale in Farmington Hills, MI, ISBN 0-7377-3362-4 library hardcover, 224 pages. There are 22 essays, divided into four chapters that pose a debate question. Mine is the third essay, a 'pro' answer to the Chapter 4 question, 'What Should Teens Be Taught About Sex?' The Amazon Site Stripe is this link, and the book now is rather pricey. The other questions in that Chapter deal with abstinence and condoms.
The con response to my essay is by Linda P. Harvey.
My pro answer included teaching the science and anthropology, which by high school teens should be understand when they take biology. But my essay also stressed that a lot of homophobia in the past is cultural, beyond merely religious: it is about the expectation that everyone should be socialized to fit into a family structure as a supposedly necessary part of social stability, surrounding the sharing of otherwise individualized risks and burdens for a common good and lineage.
Today that is what the alt-right believes, more or less. The far Left, however, as we know, from other postings, is challenging the idea of behavioral sexual orientation in cis-men, and seems to believe that everything comes down to 'choosing' a gender idea that suits your inborn capabilities.
At the time of publication of this book, no one seriously thought you could introduce these topics to younger children or soften their future critical attitudes. Things have really changed.
The concept of presenting opposing viewpoints is also the mission of a group called Braver Angels, and I have attended and reported on their debates. At one time, I wanted to set up an opposing viewpoints "database" on my own "doaskdotell" legacy site.
For my own progress, I visited (for the first time in over two years), an overpacked storage locker (Extra Space) to see what kind of inventory of my books I might have. The locker was so overstuffed I could not tell yet.
(Posted: Monday, June 13, 2022 at 11 PM EDT by John W. Boushka)