Openly gay Challenger Middle School teacher Gerald Gapusan has generated national headlines because of his now-defunct MySpace site.

His former site displayed pictures of bare-chested men in suggestive poses. Had his site belonged to a straight female teacher, it’s doubtful anyone would have noticed or complained about it. However, when you’re a gay teacher, double standards apply – especially when parents and the right wing decide to target you.

First Amendment safeguards apply to off-duty activity for public employees, including teachers. Those safeguards change with the times.

Years ago, it was married women having to take maternity leave. Today, it’s postings on the Internet. Heaven forbid the students get any ideas.

Obviously, there could not be openly gay teachers because of sodomy laws. California started making a dent for gay rights by allowing openly gay teachers to teach, as long as they didn’t have gay sex.

Ironically, that’s what’s going on with Gapusan. It’s OK to be gay, but don’t advertise it on the Internet.

Postings on the Internet, particularly through social networking sites like MySpace, are generating problems for scores of teachers, cops and others seeking or holding posts in private employment. I’ve written over the years about gay cops and teachers and how their off-duty conduct got them fired.

The most famous case involves a former San Diego Police Department cop who had a Web site with pictures of himself nude in and out of a police uniform. SDPD cops recognized him even though he never identified himself as being a member of SDPD.

I wrote that his firing was unnecessary. No one outside of the SDPD knew who he was and his site didn’t interfere with his impeccable job performance. The police officers’ union backed the cop.

The U.S. Supreme Court held that public employees have First Amendment rights both on and off the job. However, those rights are balanced with the public employer’s needs to run a police department or school without substantial disruption. In the case of a cop or teacher, the courts give employers considerable latitude to determine whether one’s off-campus behavior could interfere with their ability to carry out their duties in school.

The reality is that postings on the Internet are becoming far more commonplace – and easily searchable by everyone. Don’t be surprised to see our local anti-gay gadfly doing a Google search on every single teacher in San Diego County. He’s already done this with judges and other public officials. What happens is this: The gadfly contacts other “concerned citizens” and they pressure the local school board to investigate. We suspect that’s what is happening with Gapusan.

If a Web site’s content indicates that a teacher is a pedophile or has sexual relations with current or former students, that’s a big problem.

I sympathize with Gapusan. He’s not alone in being targeted by the right wing. All one has to do is Google any gay or lesbian public official and you will find sites devoted to exposing gays and lesbians (and their children) to defamation, ridicule and harassment.

But I also empathize with San Diego School District Superintendent Carl Cohn and his legal team. I saw Cohn recently at a Center event discussing a Jewish girl’s efforts to organize a Gay-Straight Alliance chapter at her private Jewish school. He appeared empathetic. Prior to coming to San Diego, Cohn championed gender-segregated classes in Long Beach.

I have every sense that this superintendent is sensitive to gay bashing, but he and the school board will have to develop a protocol/policy for investigating complaints of “inappropriate” material on teachers’ Web sites.