School on defensive after telling parents their son is gay [View all]
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!
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