Queerness and Facism in Anchorage

[Ken Jones]

There's an interesting article in today's Oregonian that reflects on the
list's recent discussion of queerness and facism. Students at an Anchorage,
Alaska high school formed an extracurricular club for gay and straight
students (seems all-inclusive). Parents and other students are protesting
this club, the Gay/Straight Alliance, as "immoral and subversive." One
school board member, David Werdal, claims that if a gay club's allowed,
"what's to keep students from forming a neo-Nazi or other extremist group?"

One possibility is to ban all extracurricular student groups, as was done in
the Salt Lake City School District. Werdal's not so sure: "I have difficulty
with that. I was in chess club in high school."

Among other ironies in the article, a student (apparently straight) on the
hockey team tore down a Gay/Straight Alliance poster while making
"derogatory comments" in front of a club member. The hockey player was
suspended from an upcoming match. Maybe he's ripe for a neo-Nazi club. Or an
extracurricular alliance of chess-playing coprophagists.

Hockey, chess, queerness, neo-Nazis, the Great White Tundra -- would this
make a great book or what?

Ken Jones
Samsara, Inc.