Woke Seattle teacher tells student identifying as straight is OFFENSIVE because it implies that LGBT people are ‘crooked’
A Seattle high school teacher has been criticized for allegedly insulting a student who called himself “straight” and telling the boy to use a less “offensive” term.
Ian Golash, chairman of the social studies department at Chief Sealth International High School, angered the 15-year-old boy’s mother and filed a complaint.
She alleged that Golash gave the students a “Social Identity Wheel” worksheet in which she asked the 10th grade students to think about different identities, including racial, ethnic, gender and sexual orientation.
After her son called himself “straight,” Golash allegedly told the boy the term was offensive.
He later bizarrely tried to explain that the word “implies that not being honest is being ‘crooked,’ which could have a negative connotation.”
Ian Golash, chair of the social studies department at Chief Sealth International High School in Seattle, has been accused by a parent of attacking her 15-year-old son
The boy identified his sexual orientation as “straight” on a “Social Identity Wheel” worksheet, which lists the options of heterosexual, homosexual, pansexual and asexual. Golash allegedly told the teen that the word was offensive
10th grader’s mother claims Golash previously failed her son on a test because she said men can’t get pregnant and women don’t have penises
Appearing on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH, the mother accused Golash of “pushing his own ideological agendas” instead of inviting open debate on “controversial topics.”
“In this particular case, he was trying to persuade the language that the students were using in an attempt to censor them,” said the woman, who declined to be identified.
‘Mr. Golash instructs his students what to think and not how to think. This in no way produces identity-safe classrooms in which students feel visible and valued.’
The parent previously complained that Golash failed her son in a quiz because he said men can’t get pregnant and women don’t have penises.
Starting in September, she raised her concerns with Golash and director Ray Garcia-Morales in an email chain.
“It is completely inappropriate to dictate what terms a student can and cannot identify with,” the mother wrote on September 24.
Golash thanked the woman for her feedback, but denied that she had singled out her son.
“I didn’t tell anyone what words to use to identify themselves. In fact, I explicitly stated that I would not tell them how to identify other than to explain the difference between race, ethnicity and nationality,” Golash responded.
In an email conversation, Golash denied singling out the 15-year-old, saying he “didn’t tell anyone what words to use to identify themselves.”
The teacher (pictured in a mugshot from a previous arrest in Oregon) said he was frustrated by the boy’s unruly behavior and used words he “might not say the same way today.”
He admitted saying he prefers not to use the term “straight” because “language has power” and “shapes the culture we live in.”
The mother also alleged that Golash targeted her son during a discussion about “banning ethnic studies” in Florida, likely a reference to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rejecting an Advanced Placement course in African American studies.
The mother said her son was absent the day before and could not answer when asked for his opinion.
“I was told that instead of talking about the subject and giving him information and a factual answer, he was told he was a ‘product of the patriarchy that teaches young boys not to care,'” the woman wrote .
“You missed an opportunity here to tell your student about current events and instead shamed him for being a man. It is a great mistake to assume that he was raised in a patriarchal family.”
Golash emphasized that his comment was not “directed at one student,” but related to discussions the class had had in recent days. ‘the behavior of several boys in the class.’
“I certainly didn’t mean any implications for your household,” the teacher added. “I was referring to a power system in which we all live.”
The parent told KTTH that her son began to “self-censor” because of Golash’s teaching methods, which she described as “intolerant.”
She alleged that Golash accused her son of being disruptive and withdrawing from an action that was “retaliatory in nature.”
Golash doubled down on these claims via email, emphasizing that he was frustrated and this “resulted in words I said that day that I might not express in the same way today.”
The mother eventually pulled her son out of his class. Chief Sealth International High School could not immediately be reached for comment.