Last week, Dan Delong, an English teacher at Southwestern High School in Piasa, Illinois was suspended for allowing students to read an article on homosexuality in the animal kingdom. The article in question, "The Gay Animal Kingdom," was written by ScienceBlogger Jonah Lehrer of The Frontal Cortex, and published by Seed magazine in 2006. Mr. Delong faced a school board hearing on Monday and stood to lose his job over the incident. Jonah, along with many other ScienceBloggers, rallied support for Mr. Delong, as well as science education and literacy everywhere. Mike Dunford of the Questionable Authority pointed out that "the content was an optional, extra-credit assignment," and provides readers with the email contact for the school's superintendent. Greg Laden of Greg Laden's Blog spoke out along with Jonah and Mike, urging readers to check out the Facebook page replete with comments of support from Mr. DeLong's former students. In the end, the effort was worthwhile—Mr. DeLong returned to his classroom this morning.
- The Gay Animal Kingdom on The Frontal Cortex
- The Gay Animal Kingdom, Part 2 on The Frontal Cortex
- Seed Magazine in the Classroom: Grounds for Suspending the Teacher?? on The Questionable Authority
- Teacher Suspended, Seed Magazine Banned, Teh Gay Blamed. on Greg Laden's Blog
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