A math camp without…math.

Sure, if math comes up they’ll talk about it. But really, “queer” kids, that’s up to you! The point is that you “queeries” get to express your identity!

Thanks, Mathematical Association of America!

One of the sponsorshttps://t.co/vh756kooiE

— Resolute Mama (@ResoluteMama) May 12, 2023

The Mathematical Association of America is not some radical group of Left-wing ideologues; or rather, it didn’t use to be. It is almost 110 years old and used to exist to promote the study and use of … mathematics.

Now, apparently, it exists as a place to provide grooming for high school kids into the alphabet cult.

Let’s take a look at the description of this “math” camp. It is a critical theory tour-de-force.

“Camp” of Mathematical Queeries is a five week virtual mathematics enrichment program for LGBTQ+ students entering grades 9-12. The enrichment is designed to tap into the rich funds of knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community and to provide a space in which LGBTQ+ and mathematical identity are affirmed as interconnected entities, central to the teaching and learning of mathematics, in particular.

Only two sentences into the description and you can see how steeped this class is in critical theory and total bullsh!t. What, pray tell, do LGBTQ+ people know about math that others don’t? What “rich fund of knowledge” is being “tapped into?” Is there some special queer math witchcraft about which nobody has ever heard?

Were Newton and Leibniz secret gay lovers when they “independently” invented calculus?!

And how, exactly, are alphabet identities and mathematical identities “interconnected?” Explain, please.

This is all critical theory word salad. But wait, it gets much worse.

Even the name of the program, “Camp” of Mathematical Queeries, has been designed to tap into the cultural histories of LGBTQ+ individuals, who remain vastly underrepresented in STEM fields. The word “Camp” is in quotation marks to invoke the aesthetic style of camp, which is closely associated with LGBTQ+ culture, especially the practice of drag.

First of all, duh! Even I, a stupid normie, got the joke about “camp.” Wordplay is also very much a critical theory trademark because people who practice critical theory believe that words define reality they love playing with words, especially redefining them. Any mental masturbation with words is fine, and in this case, real-world masturbation is likely involved at some point.

And drag. You MUST. HAVE. DRAG.

Queeries, a queer play on the term query, when used as a verb means to question, often as a form of doubt. In the context of “Camp” the word “Queeries” is meant to honor the traditions of LGBTQ+ individuals, especially those who are Black, Brown, and/or disabled, that have sought to live their lives authentically by exploring routes and questions outside of the dominant, normative culture. 

Unbelievably precious, isn’t it? We’ve got wordplay, sexual deviance, race consciousness, and rejection of ableism, all in the service of authentic living by undermining normative culture.

I wonder how many colors the hair of the professor who wrote this is dyed? Do they wear a bow tie ironically? Do they look androgynous?

Remember–this is a description that supposedly exists to entice high school students to join a math camp. It reads like a grant application for a gender studies professor’s sabbatical. Which, likely, it was originally.

Throughout the five weeks students will engage in activities of mathematical problem posing and problem solving through group-worthy mathematical tasks centered on LGBTQ+ culture and history.

I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of math tasks are involved in things “centered on LGBTQ+ culture and history,” but I fear it has to do with Monkeypox and orgies.

“How quickly does an STD spread from Africa if one attends 3 orgies a week vs. 5?” “How many plane trips does it take to have Monkeypox spread to 5 continents?” Is Anthony Fauci involved somehow?

(Apologies to my gay readers–I am against orgies no matter what your sexual identity! I love you guys, but monogamy forever! It is much healthier for the body and the soul.)

All that critical theory bull is in just one paragraph. But that isn’t even the best part.

There is no actual requirement that math takes place in this math camp. There is no math agenda, per se. The goal is to gather a bunch of students who apparently love drag and wordplay and then let them figure out what they want to do.

While LGBTQ+ identity is often relegated to the margins and ignored in subjects like mathematics, “Camp” of Mathematical Queeries was created to resist this normative view. Our program was designed to illustrate that students’ LGBTQ+ identities are powerful assets to be utilized in the nurturing of positive mathematical identity. Our program honors the sentiments of Ocean Vuong, who wrote,

…[W]hen I look at my life, I saw that queerness demanded an alternative innovation from me. I had to make alternative routes; it made me curious; it made me ask, ‘Is this enough for me?’

Our program taps into LGBTQ+’s folx natural propensity to explore alternative routes and ask questions that others may not. We believe this is exactly the liberatory approach needed to radically transform how we view what counts as mathematics and what it means to be mathematical.

The methods and ideas for “Camp” of Mathematical Queeries has been inspired by a number of sources including (but not limited to!):

• Kai Rands’ works in mathematical Inqu[ee]ry
  Alexander S. Moore’s work on the “Queer Identity Intersection of Mathematics Education”
  Luis Leyva’s work on mathematics as a white, masculine space
  Kyne Santos’ (from Canada’s Drag Race!) Tiktok math videos.
  Rochelle Gutierrez’s work in creative insubordination and rehumanizing mathematics
  Brown and Walter’s work on mathematical problem posing
  Lessons from the book High School Mathematics Lessons to Explore, Understand, and Respond to Social Injustice
  The work of programs such as Indigenous STEAM, Girls STEM Institute, Girls who Code, and Love & LiteraTea

Lots of math talk in all that, if you poke around. What as they say, what counts as math anyway?

But the kicker is:

What Math Will We Learn?

That will be up to you! This is not a traditional enrichment camp or school program. Our program is completely student generated. While we may provide a specific context (e.g., mathematics re: queer representation in media) at various points throughout the program, students will be encouraged to pose whatever mathematical questions they find interesting related to that context (as well as other contexts they generate themselves). For this reason, there is no prescribed mathematical content that we will learn in the program. The mathematics we learn will depend entirely upon the questions students choose to explore and the mathematics that might aid them in that exploration. Similarly, we will never have required assignments or anything like a traditional school assignment. The goal of the program is to provide a space for mathematical play, discovery, and joy for LGBTQ+ students and for them to engage with mathematics in ways they find interesting and comfortable.

And there you have it. The Mathematical Association of America has become, apparently, a queer grooming organization focused on spreading critical theory, “centering” identity, equity, and…well, no actual math.

Critical theory is a cancer in Western culture, and it has metastasized, destroying the core of our intellectual tradition, including physics and mathematics.

People in STEM fields used to joke about how the Liberal Arts were going to hell, but they assumed that the harder sciences would be immune from the cultural Marxist rot. We tried to warn them, but they scoffed.

Now? It’s probably too late. Imagine being a white-haired on-the-spectrum mathematics professor trying to object to the hijacking of the Mathematical Society of America. You would be crucified for objecting to this dreck.

Academia is hopeless. It is time to wipe the slate clean and start over.