School on defensive after telling parents their son is gay

[Are_grits_groceries]

A school district in Utah is defending its decision to “out” a middle-school student as gay to his parents in light of safety and bullying concerns.

“The administrator did exactly the right thing,” said Rhonda Bromley, a spokeswoman for the Alpine School District in Lehi, Utah. “We are not going to back down. We take bullying very, very seriously.”

The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network urged caution in these situations.
“Schools should not out LGBT students without their consent,” said GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard. “Outing a student not only violates their right to privacy, but also could compromise their safety. Parents can be notified of their child being bullied at school, but without disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The situation started last week when the 14-year-old’s class at Willowcreek Middle School was assigned to create an advertisement about themselves to hang on the classroom wall. The boy wrote about being gay, Bromley said.
More:
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/14/9447882-school-on-defensive-after-telling-parents-their-son-is-gay

And he may now be thrown out of his home, severely punished or 're-educated' if his parents are virulently opposed to LGBT people.

What a hot mess!

[foreigncorrespondent]

1. I hope...

...his parents support him and sue the shit out of the school for outing their son.

[Chipper Chat]

2. Not likely.

Watch the movie "Latter Days' to see what mormon parents do to their sons for coming out.

[dipsydoodle]

3. sue the shit out of the school ?

which of your laws cover this ?

Just asking - I'm UK and to the best of my knowledge that couldn't be done here.

[JVS]

7. The school should sue the shit out of the parents for being shitty parents and thereby endangering..

their student. Not to mention the side effects that shitty parents can have on other students. Kids with shitty parents are likely to be pre-occupied with their home situation and score poorly on tests used to evaluate the school. This can result in losses of funding, which hurts every student. This makes shitty parents a danger to everyone.

[get the red out]

4. But does this risk more abuse?

If his parents are religious, will they abuse him trying to "save" him?

[cyberswede]

5. If the boy

wrote about being gay on a school poster, didn't he out himself? From the article (emphasis added):

The situation started last week when the 14-year-old’s class at Willowcreek Middle School was assigned to create an advertisement about themselves to hang on the classroom wall. The boy wrote about being gay, Bromley said.

When the teacher approached him about whether he wanted to share that information publicly, the boy said he did. The teacher decided to involve the assistant school principal, who spoke with the boy and counseled him on talking with his parents.

The student was hesitant to approach his parents, but agreed “reluctantly” to let the administrator to speak with them, Bromley said. At the boy’s request, he was not present when his parents were told.

“The student chose himself to make his sexuality known in a variety of ways,” Bromley said. “And there had already started to be some negative feedback.”

[JVS]

6. The school is right. The student agreed to this. It's not the school's fault that the parents...

punished the kid.