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Friday, March 10, 2023
Online Petition Calls Out School For Cancelling Play With LGBTQ+ Characters
www.broadwayworld.com: Over 4,000 signatures have been added to a change.org petition that accuses administrators of Carroll High School in Indiana of canceling a school play involving LGBTQ+ characters after receiving complaints from parents.
3 comments:
Carolyn Burback
said...
Coming from a school with similar hesitations and opposition against open LGBTQ+ representation, the outrage of the student body is all too familiar to me. I think it’s inappropriate for the cancellation of the play to be due to “safety concerns for the students involved” because that implies that members or depictions of the LGBTQ+ are inherently dangerous which is a discriminatory and false perception of said community. I think theatre is often a place in middle and highschool where students who feel left out find a place and a family so the fact that plays which involve the LGBTQ+ community often cause a lot of controversy in schools is unfortunate. Theatre should be for all communities and I’m glad the Carroll School students have gained thousands of signatures against their decision. If anything the parents are a safety concern for the targeted students who are being told they shouldn’t be seen even in a theatrical setting.
Once again another blatant display of homophobia and societies consistent need to shut down anything related to showcasing that members of the LGBTQ+ community do in fact exist. Putting on a show that showcases the members of this community is a very risky but necessary step in high school theater that needs to be taken. From my own personal experience in high school theater if a show such as the one stated in the article, “Marian: The True Tale of Robin Hood” we’re to be displayed. It would have faced a similar fate. Showing how wide spread this homophobic issue is. I remember my school put on a production of the little mermaid and there were complaints about flounder being played by a woman while simultaneously having a small crush on Ariel. Just ridiculous and shows people have nothing else better to do than to put there homophobic ideologies onto high school theaters. So I am happy to see that a petition has been started and would love for the school to be able to perform this play.
It is frustrating to see how many schools happily put on shows like Chicago, Grease, Damn Yankees and Guys and Dolls with explicit sexual references but are intolerant of a production with a gay character. Of course this is one of many consequences of a hetero-normative and patriarchal culture, but I was hoping to see schools move towards representation. Over break I went to see my high school’s spring musical of The Wedding Singer and I was appalled at the amount of sexual and misogynistic lines. I think by canceling the show with LGBTQ characters, the school sent a clear message of intolerance. One of the main reasons plays like this are so popular among high schools and colleges is that it connects well with students: it is set in a familiar situations and the emotions expressed through the characters are in tune with how students would feel if they were in the situation (it is not cartoonish or overdone like in many movies and TV shows).
3 comments:
Coming from a school with similar hesitations and opposition against open LGBTQ+ representation, the outrage of the student body is all too familiar to me. I think it’s inappropriate for the cancellation of the play to be due to “safety concerns for the students involved” because that implies that members or depictions of the LGBTQ+ are inherently dangerous which is a discriminatory and false perception of said community. I think theatre is often a place in middle and highschool where students who feel left out find a place and a family so the fact that plays which involve the LGBTQ+ community often cause a lot of controversy in schools is unfortunate. Theatre should be for all communities and I’m glad the Carroll School students have gained thousands of signatures against their decision. If anything the parents are a safety concern for the targeted students who are being told they shouldn’t be seen even in a theatrical setting.
Once again another blatant display of homophobia and societies consistent need to shut down anything related to showcasing that members of the LGBTQ+ community do in fact exist. Putting on a show that showcases the members of this community is a very risky but necessary step in high school theater that needs to be taken. From my own personal experience in high school theater if a show such as the one stated in the article, “Marian: The True Tale of Robin Hood” we’re to be displayed. It would have faced a similar fate. Showing how wide spread this homophobic issue is. I remember my school put on a production of the little mermaid and there were complaints about flounder being played by a woman while simultaneously having a small crush on Ariel. Just ridiculous and shows people have nothing else better to do than to put there homophobic ideologies onto high school theaters. So I am happy to see that a petition has been started and would love for the school to be able to perform this play.
It is frustrating to see how many schools happily put on shows like Chicago, Grease, Damn Yankees and Guys and Dolls with explicit sexual references but are intolerant of a production with a gay character. Of course this is one of many consequences of a hetero-normative and patriarchal culture, but I was hoping to see schools move towards representation. Over break I went to see my high school’s spring musical of The Wedding Singer and I was appalled at the amount of sexual and misogynistic lines. I think by canceling the show with LGBTQ characters, the school sent a clear message of intolerance. One of the main reasons plays like this are so popular among high schools and colleges is that it connects well with students: it is set in a familiar situations and the emotions expressed through the characters are in tune with how students would feel if they were in the situation (it is not cartoonish or overdone like in many movies and TV shows).
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