It seems that controversy is brewing at my elementary school. As the Tribune noted, Oak Park is a “diversity-embracing, socially progressive cocoon,” and unfortunately, three conservative families (who frankly, should have known better moving to Oak Park, known as the “5th sexiest suburb in the US” and “the most gay-friendly town in Illinois”) were upset that their children were introduced to the terms “homosexuality” and “heterosexuality.”

In an effort to stop the use of the phrase, “That’s so gay!” as a slur, my elementary school sent in a professional to train the faculty and staff in how to address the situation with elementary school students. The Tribune notes:

The discussion began after Beye’s school improvement team set a priority of helping teachers and staff deal with kids making comments such as, “that’s so gay” to their classmates. The school brought in gay rights advocate Shannon Sullivan, executive director of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, to conduct three training sessions with teachers and staff and talk with parents at a PTO meeting.

But the effort drew the attention of the Tinley Park-based Illinois Family Institute, and soon the school was subjected to an angry piece on the group’s Web site and a subsequent e-mail blitz.

“This was not a new goal,” said Principal Jonathan Ellwanger, who received more than 140 messages. “For our community, the notion that every family deserves respect should be a given.”

He says the anti-gay language reflected a “broader lack of sensitivity” that the school decided to address.

But Illinois Family’s Laurie Higgins said Oak Park educators could have addressed it with a statement as simple as: “Kids, we don’t make fun of anyone.”

What particularly strikes me is the quote from Principal Ellwanger (who was just the music teacher when I went there but still appears to be just as awesome as I remember!) stating that, “For our community” respect “should be a given.” Addressing the statement simply with, “Kids, we don’t make fun of anyone,” reduces the phrase, and doesn’t address the issue at hand of using sexuality as a means of describing something as “bad.”

Damn, son. Already looks good.