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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGay, Christian High School Student Suspended For Ripping His Own Bible
When Isaiah Smith brought his Bible to school last week, he says he intended to battle the bullying he'd received about his sexual orientation, not to cause trouble.
The 18-year-old senior at Birdville High School, in North Richland Hills, Texas, began tearing pages out of Leviticus when his classmates taunted him, telling him he was going to hell for being gay. Although the Bible was his own and he was reacting to ongoing bullying, the incident resulted in a three-day school suspension for Smith.
At my high school, some kids like to say that being gay is a sin and that you cant be gay and Christian, Smith told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I wanted to bring my Bible to school and interpret the books of Leviticus and Romans, because they are often used to bully gay people.
Smith says that his punishment is unfair, and is suing the Birdville Independent School District to remove the disciplinary mark from his record with the help of a lawyer from the American Humanist Association, who is taking his case on for free.
A spokesman from BISD said that Smith's punishment was unrelated to the Bible itself, but for disrupting class. No word on whether any of the homophobic bullies were punished for their disruptions.
http://austinist.com/2013/11/04/gay_christian_high_school_student_s.php
get the red out
(13,461 posts)I had no idea that bullying a student didn't disrupt class, I guess not since the bullies didn't need to be taken to task.
RC
(25,592 posts)That is why they can get away with the bullying in the first place, because they also intimidate those around them, in authority that can stop it.
The school administration is not only intimidated by these students, or their parents, but most likely are homophobes too.
DU has it's bullies also. But because they push certain agendas, more or less inline with DU policy and have their very vocal supporters, they are allowed to get away with their disruptions, intimidations and bullying. And the administration here lets them get away with it too. Bullying and intimidation is still bullying and intimidation. Even if you agree with the bullies positions and go along, with {read excuse} their tactics.