Facepalm: Teacher Fired for Blogging About Homophones, ‘Associating with Homosexuality’
Homo is a prefix that means “same.”
Homophones are words that are pronounced the same way but have different meanings and may have spellings. Here’s an example: “bear” and “bare.”
Homosexuals are people who are sexually attracted to people of the same sex.
Homophones have nothing to do with homosexuality.
Zach Schonfeld has the story:
Education Blogger Fired for Writing About Homophones and Confusing Homophobes
A Utah teacher and education blogger says he was fired from the Nomen Global Language Center in Provo after writing a blog post about homophones, though he disputes media reports that he was let go for promoting a “gay agenda.”
Self-described “social media specialist and content provider” Tim Torkildson recounted the firing in a personal blog post, which was subsequently picked up by The Salt Lake Tribune and other outlets. According to that account, Nomen Global owner Clarke Woodger was concerned that a post about homophones—words that sound the same but are defined differently—meant the school would be “associated with homosexuality.”
“He called me into the conference room, and he said, ‘We’re going to let you go,’” Torkildson told Newsweek. “[He said] this blog on homophones is the last straw. You can’t be trusted. I can’t trust you to write a regular blog.”
Torkildson denied that he was accused outright of promoting a “gay agenda.”
“No, that’s all been distorted,” he said. “His [Woodger’s] words to me were, ‘Some people might think that a blog on homophones has something to do with homosexuality.’ And that’s as far as he went on that. He said he hadn’t looked the word up, and then he realized what it was. His objection mainly was he thought the students at the school would not understand. And they would become offended or think the school would have some kind of gay agenda.”
Comments
I guess Biology teachers teaching about primates, humans, and Evolution who use the words homo erectus or homo sapiens will now be fired, too?!
Or those who talk about milk production in the process of Pasteurization who discuss homogenous milk as the product will also be fired?!
I could go on, but I think you get the picture.
How about this: re-hire the guy who was teaching an important English language lesson and *FIRE* the people who were ignorant and idiotic enough to make this decision and fire him!
“Black holes”, “niggardly”, now “homophones”.
These are supposed to be educated people?