D.C., MD. & VA.

Perspective

A teacher fired years ago for being gay watches it all happen again

By Petula Dvorak
Columnist
Yesterday at 6:32 p.m. EDT



Joseph Acanfora, 71, was fired from his teaching job in Montgomery County 50 years ago because he is gay. (Hai Ngoc Lam/Joe Acanfora)

The kids in Rockville, Md., liked their middle school’s new science teacher. ... “He acted like he was a kid once, too, you know?” one eighth-grader said. “Like, you know, he treated us like people — not, you know, just like little kids.”

The students at Parkland Middle School told “60 Minutes” in a 1973 broadcast that they didn’t know much about Joseph Acanfora until he was called to the principal’s office in the middle of the day — after news surfaced of his involvement in a landmark civil rights case on gay rights. ... “It was the last time I was in the classroom,” said Acanfora, now 71 and living in California, where he has watched as a Republican-led backlash to making schools safer for LGBTQ youths has fomented outrage with the same harmful consequences he endured.

Teachers across America are being disciplined, fired and sued for being gay, talking about gay, saying “gay.” ... They’re being targeted for online harassment by a vigilante mob of conservatives, their information fueled by toxic social media campaigns and laws like Florida’s legislation restricting LGBTQ discussion that critics have dubbed the “don’t say gay” bill. ... They’ve twisted any conversation about sexual orientation or gender expression, mislabeling it as “grooming” — as though by acknowledging that Jaden has two dads, teachers are somehow preparing children to be the quivering victims of pedophiles or candidates for sex trafficking. ... “It’s totally strange. And sad,” he said. “Sad that we’re having this conversation 50 years later.”

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“The biggest positive to come out of the whole experience for me? It was the support of my students,” he said. “There they were, 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds who were speaking at the court hearing, taking petitions around to get me reinstated. ... “It was an inspiration that young people who hadn’t been fed hate had compassion,” he said. ... He believes youths will be the moral compass today, too, because they are organized and have experienced inclusion and equality. ... “The younger generation, the gay generation that has been free, the ones who have been accepted by their friends and families, they’ve had a taste of freedom,” he said. “And they won’t go back.”

By Petula Dvorak
Petula is a columnist for The Post's local team who writes about homeless shelters, gun control, high heels, high school choirs, the politics of parenting, jails, abortion clinics, mayors, modern families, strip clubs and gas prices, among other things. Before coming to The Post, she covered social issues, crime and courts. Twitter https://twitter.com/petulad