About suspended teacher Kevin Hogan. (I guess Michael Lucas wasn’t available? Maybe if Kevin Hogan had been Muslim.)
The problem is that whenever pornography is debated publicly, statements of self-evident truth gather like clouds and obscure reason. And in the case of Kevin Hogan, who was recently suspended from his teaching job at Massachusetts’s Mystic Valley Regional Charter School for his gay porn past, these obscuring clouds all but completely blot out the light.
Statements are like clouds? I love clouds!
This part is sort of weird:
Earlier this year, Sean Loftis, a gay porn performer and producer, found himself in similar circumstances, and was fired from his job as a substitute teacher in a Miami Beach middle school. He also concealed his work in porn. On gay porn blog The Sword, he defended his secrecy, echoing his accusers’ arguments of self-evidence…
Uhhh, not really a “similar circumstance” at all, considering Sean Loftis (Collin O’Neal) was concurrently working in and producing pornography while he was a substitute teacher. And, more importantly, there is the fact that the media did not ambush Sean Loftis. Rather, it was Sean Loftis who ambushed the media when, after he was put on suspension, he took his story to the awful Miami New Times and CNN’s Dr. Drew show. But, whatever(?!).
Conner’s main point is an important one:
The line between porn consumer and performer should not be so stark; it is only so because we still hide away our sexual feelings. Being open is part of being honest.
As the world changes, our rights — no matter how self-evident we think they are — begin to change as well. The firing of Kevin Hogan would be a shared responsibility. It should not happen, but unless we begin to talk openly about pornography and sex, we’ll never really understand why that is, or even why we feel the way we do. If no work is done to clear away deeply-held but clouded and unclear assumptions, we’ll continue to feel uncomfortable when someone else shines a light on us.
Absolutely. But, the irony that a call for openness about pornography being published in The Advocate isn’t lost on me. This is the same Advocate that is owned by Paul Colichman, who delicately and deliberately distanced himself from the pornographic magazines (Unzipped, Men, and Freshmen) he purchased (which came bundled with Advocate and Out) in 2008 before methodically dismantling them into non-existence, one by one by one. I worked for Colichman during the time he shut down his adult magazines, and while I stayed on until the very end, I had the demoralizing displeasure of watching co-workers, friends, and talented colleagues lose their jobs, one by one by one.
Publishing articulate essays that encourage being open about pornography and openly publishing actual pornography are two very different things, of course, and the former comes with no risk or shame for Colichman, while at the same time making his mainstream magazines appear to be porn-friendly, sex-positive venues. This is not to say that the Advocate and Out editors are hypocrites every time they write an article in support of porn. It’s to say that their boss is.
[Advocate]
it is incredibly naive to think that some school admin is going to fall on their sword, for any teacher who worked/works in porn. it AIN’T going to happen.
Nor to think that this tabloid story, is something the entire country should care about in relation to educational policy and programs–they have bigger problems to address.
To say that someone can’t be a teacher because they did porn is outrageously ignorant, in my opinion. That’s like saying you can’t be a teacher if you’ve had an abortion, cheated on your spouse(s), drink, smoke, divorces, wearing fur, or having a religion that isn’t mainstream and approved. Doing porn isn’t illegal or immoral. And if you think it’s an immoral, shameful thing…what are you doing here?
A HUGE amount of Kevin Hogan’s students (current and former) have shown their 100% support for him, and want him to keep his job as a teacher. That his being in porn doesn’t affect how they view him, or his ability to be a good teacher.
This site is one of the very few I’ve seen where people are actually siding with the homophobic reporter and the school board. It just goes to show you that there are still a loooooot of self-hating, sexophobic gays out there. And before anyone jumps on me for saying that, look at the context. This is a gay porn site. People here have actually been suggesting it’s okay for someone to be fired over “morality” issues. Morality is SUBJECTIVE, people. Some people think it’s the most immoral crime in the world, to have an abortion…that doesn’t mean that those people, who have the right to have their opinion, should be able to dictate and legislate based on their “morals”.
Keep morality out of government. Stick with common sense and facts.
I loved Conner’s article.
Keep up the good fight, those of you who are supporting Mr. Hogan! Our FB page (now with over 3,000 supporters from around the world!) : http://www.facebook.com/firemikebeaudet
“abortion, cheated on your spouse(s), drink, smoke, divorces, wearing fur, or having a religion that isn’t mainstream and approved”
well, none of those instances involve broadcasting it to the public. there is a slight difference here.
there was another teacher–a guidance counselor, who basically went around telling people she got fired for some pictorials, that were nude and artistic. And she basically, went on Oprah and lied about the whole thing. They showed the photos with the black bars obstructing what they could on TV–honey, those were NOT artistic nudes; you were showing parts, only your gyno should see.
She basically played up the part of being fired; ironically, she was advising students on making positive choices in their lives, and basically worked while doing these shots.
quite frankly, i couldn’t give a shit about the porn part–i don’t think people should be working in education if its just a job rather than a calling.
clearly this lady wasn’t the type that wanted to inspire kids. neither this individual I mention above, nor the other two guys mentioned in the article, are people that the educational system needs right now; it is screwed up as it is, already.
And quite frankly, its this type of chickenshit stuff that distracts people from the REAL issues at hand. This includes ‘activist’ porn stars who rabblerouse for the point of promoting no other cause but themselves.
I think its safe to assume, if you are of legal age to participate in porn, then you are capable enough to acknowledge the risks associated with it….and if you haven’t then your just a stupid asshole.
those issues are not discussed in class. if a teacher experiences an abortion or has a religious faith, they aren’t going to bring it up in class.
with porn, you don’t have the luxury of ignoring or omitting your personal history with others. people are aware of this guy. so therefore, its too late now to do anything about it.
and if “Conner” and his friends think there isn’t anything wrong with porn, then why false identities? they don’t protect anyone in the end, and especially with the internet, no one can hide the truth anyways.
“That’s like saying you can’t be a teacher if you’ve had an abortion, cheated on your spouse(s), drink, smoke, divorces, wearing fur, or having a religion that isn’t mainstream and approved. ” We are on the slippery slope and headed that direction. Teachers are getting fired and students suspended over more and more trivial things. However, if you want to be a teacher, with the resposibility of shaping the minds of children, you have to be aware of what the morality standards of the job are, and be able to meet them.
i’m over this crap; you do porn, you accept the risks–which include people finding out your choice of career.
you are not a victim, and neither are those men involved.
stop trying to serve your own ego, and perpetuate this, and your hack writing…stop, just please stop.
huh?
Having a teacher who does porn is neither educational, or promoting a healthy sexual choice(its a debatable choice).
what is the difference between to the two men: one works in public school system which has to fight for funds, and the other a private that is trying to earn them with a prestigious rep.
Neither want loss of funds over ‘porn teachers’. Sorry dudes, the reality is that if you are not up to a higher standard, you are not fit to teach.
Admin has the right to discretely fire over morality clauses. We also are squeamish at the thought that teachers are the ones sexualizing children. Those aspects of development are often kept outside of classrooms, and mostly kept on a biological scientific note when actually discussed in sex ed. Boundaries are emphasized, and when they are blurred people get cut from jobs for the benefit of the district.
For instance, A teacher was fired for only appearing in a different person’s bachelorette party photo album on facebook. They weren’t even close to the stripper but were in the corner socializing. They were fired for not upholding standards.
And you expect those two to be working in this profession? No.
Maybe at the collegial level but that is unlikely as well.