The following is an excerpt from "A boy and his flag" by David Koon in the Arkansas Times. For the full article, follow the link at the end of the page.
Will Phillips isn't like other boys his age.
For one thing, he's smart. Scary smart. A student in the West Fork School District in Washington County, he skipped a grade this year, going directly from the third to the fifth. When his family goes for a drive, discussions are much more apt to be about Teddy Roosevelt and terraforming Mars than they are about Spongebob Squarepants and what's playing on Radio Disney.
It was during one of those drives that the discussion turned to the pledge of allegiance and what it means. Laura Phillips is Will's mother. “Yes, my son is 10,” she said. “But he's probably more aware of the meaning of the pledge than a lot of adults. He's not just doing it rote recitation. We raised him to be aware of what's right, what's wrong, and what's fair.”
Will's family has a number of gay friends. In recent years, Laura Phillips said, they've been trying to be a straight ally to the gay community, going to the pride parades and standing up for the rights of their gay and lesbian neighbors. They've been especially dismayed by the effort to take away the rights of homosexuals – the right to marry, and the right to adopt. Given that, Will immediately saw a problem with the pledge of allegiance.
“I've always tried to analyze things because I want to be lawyer,” Will said. “I really don't feel that there's currently liberty and justice for all.”
After asking his parents whether it was against the law not to stand for the pledge, Will decided to do something. On Monday, Oct. 5, when the other kids in his class stood up to recite the pledge of allegiance, he remained sitting down. The class had a substitute teacher that week, a retired educator from the district, who knew Will's mother and grandmother. Though the substitute tried to make him stand up, he respectfully refused. He did it again the next day, and the next day. Each day, the substitute got a little more cross with him. On Thursday, it finally came to a head. The teacher, Will said, told him that she knew his mother and grandmother, and they would want him to stand and say the pledge.
- Full story in Arkansas Times
Two weeks later, LGBT Parenting columnist Bill Delaney writes in a column “The tug of war over the next generation” in examiner.com that those after full equality should closely watch “a tug of war going on over the younger generation" as it "calls into question the certitude of that outcome [full equality for the U.S.’s LGBT citizens is a matter not of ‘if’ but of ‘when’]":
On the opposite end of the spectrum from Will and the GSAs are the followers of Westboro Baptist Church’s Rev. Fred Phelps and his Godhatesfags.com website. Where Will Phillips refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance out of a sense of patriotism, meaning he expects the country to live up to the ideals it espouses, Westboro Baptists’ congregants express their own brand of patriotism by condemning the entire country simply for its limited and patchwork acceptance of LGBTs. Phelps’ followers, with many children among their numbers, appear at the funerals of military members who have fallen in Iraq or Afghanistan and wave signs declaring that they deserved their deaths since God has damned the United States. “God hates you” and “You will burn in Hell” appear on signs, often held by children of Will’s age and younger. According to their website they have held 41,226 “peaceful demonstrations (to date)” since their founding in 1991.
…
While the good Reverend Phelps and his followers are the extreme, there are others among the younger generation who might also be “lost” as future allies for LGBTs. One of the potential drawbacks to the current wave of civil rights battles across the nation is that, while much of the younger generation will be learning that LGBT equality is a no-brainer there will be others whose parents and communities will be more pro-active in teaching their children to not accept their gay peers. Many of these kids attend anti-gay protests and take part in other anti-gay political actions, either willingly or at the behest of their parents. Many are being groomed to fill the leadership roles of groups such as Focus on the Family and National Organization for Marriage. In the past, many parents might have stewed in silence which allowed for their children to be influenced by pro-gay lessons, or at the very least to grow up neutral on the issue. But now there are countless parents who have been galvanized into action and want to ensure their kids learn to not see LGBT citizens as equal (at best).
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It the kind of right we all should fight for. I hope more parent teach their kid about respect and tolerance.
And no, I don't recite the Singapore pledge neither. "... equality" my ass.
watch the video and see how articulate this child is (in spite of the inevitable camera induced nervousness) without acting like a mock adult either, as over-bright kids often do.
Thanks little buddy, you make my day (well, night actually, as it's 8pm here in Paris) !
All the best Will for your courage and dignity.
JPS
Can't we leave our kids out of our politics? It saddens me that parents might make their kids take a political stand alongside them before their children are capable of fully forming an informed opinion on political issues. I fully accept that children are capable of forming opinions, but I truly believe by cajoling them into political actions we're denying them the right to form a political consciousness naturally over time. In China I'm often faced with people who perceive the Japanese as sub-human because 'their parents told them so'. They're kids, for God's sake! They'll believe what their parents tell them to believe! Fight your political battles yourselves and let your kids make their own minds up!
Bravo Will :)
We can all take a leaf out of your book!
I can definitely see a bright future for him a a human rights lawyer!
And for commentator # 11, your snipe against singaporean is pretty obvious. As a fellow guy from singapore, I quite agree with your statement..... but I have met many Brits along the way and none have that kind of balls/guts you are saying either !!!
Meanwhile, cudos to the kid for sticking up his guns.
...boy soldiers in Africa, kids as soldiers for christs sake..jeje..what next? lets leave kids out of it till they are old enough to make informed decisions
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My guess is that he has two, just like the majority of Singaporean men.
Hehe. :P
The first aim of a democracy is to continually strive to be as perfect a democracy as possible.
A perfect democracy offers all of its citizens equal opportunities and rights, coupled with equal voting rights - underpinned by freedom of speech and a strong legal system.
The United States is, without question a leader in many of these regards.
However, members of its gay community is legally prevented from access the equal right of declaring its love for each other on an open and equal way.
In some countries, I use South Korea as an example, soldiers on enlistment - if they declare they are gay - have this fact recorded on their military record. This is then accessible not only by their military commanders but also by employers after they finish their two years compulsory military service.
This is a pure example of a structurally imperfect democracy - that legislates to block opportunities to these PEOPLE. So these young soldiers are expected to train, fight and possibly even die in defence of an imperfect democracy that denies them equality of opportunity.
So Korean soldiers, and those of their allies, including the US, Australia and Japan - among others are expected to potentially sacrifice their lives for an imperfect democracy.
Why does all this relate to Will's statement?
Because Will, in his own way has recognised this significant imperfection in US democracy - the removal of equality of access to marriage - the a segment of the US population.
And he is prepared to stand and be heard on this.
Full credit to him - and lets all strive to let freedom ring -- and shape perfect democracies wherever we can.
Failure to do so - is only a step away from discriminating against one group of people - then another - then another - and, as the experience of Germany in the 1930's and 40's shows - it is a fast, slippery slope from there to a totalitarian Nazi-like regime - and inevitable future holocausts.
Thankyou Will - you are a true American hero! :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOcAWn7Rp9s&feature=player_embedded
This kid was highly praised in RTHK2 "We are family" radio talk show in Hong Kong last weekend, which brought him to my attention. The future of LGBT rights is largely in the hands of our children today, and the people who influence them most are their parents and teachers. Given this, do we see any light for LGBT equality in our future?
http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/u/Mahayana/2009/11/19/Sitting-Down-for-Whats-Right
Our Singapore pledge is equally a big joke
Brilliant boy...shame on those here who try to put down the natural exuberance of a mere kid!!!
Most importantly though, observe how his words came from his own accord. Read: Not forced or brianwashed.
gosh, did anyone see the Glee kids sing at Game 3 of the World Series? so awesome and patriotic they were
you can tell this kid's parents aren't gay, but straight
cause if it was a gay day, the kid by 10 years old would already have the best voice in class (due to voice lessons and his dad's eternal love for Judy Garland and old Showtunes) and he would belt out the National Anthem and already be in the Show Choir
the USA is a great place, we have democracy where we can vote if we want something or not, we have a great legal system where courts now interpret fairness based on a constitution
everyone can get married in the USA gay or straight now, plus Nantucket is a fantastic place for a wedding, you just have to spend a little bit of money
the real tragedy in the USA is that you have to wait until 21 years old to get married in Mississippi:( but the USA is a Federalist system, so the locals decide in each state what's best for them
to be honest, when this gay daddy pushes the twins baby stroller down the streets in the USA, no one even blinks an eye or even cares
however i do get annoyed when they always ask me what orphanage in Korea did i get the twins from (they are Chinese mixed kids and my seed actually)
finally, please read Rolling Stone's December review of GLEE the gayest show on TV, its bringing back feel good TV which my generation really needs right now
if it was my kid he needs a better civic lesson to truly understand the beauty of federalism and the US constitution beyond just the simple pledge
a gay dad's work is never done
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