High school students in Bakersfield, California, have gone to the ACLU to file a lawsuit against their school principal for censoring their story about openly gay students and their lives. The students were “out†prior to the article being written and if minors, written parental permission to be included in the story was obtained.
School officials are claiming that the story may incite violence among the student body. They are only interested in protecting the students.
Hmmm… I wonder. Are they protecting the students or themselves? If a high school must acknowledge their openly gay students and provide them a platform to express themselves, how does this endanger the students? Wouldn’t exposing the discrimination and persecution that these students almost certainly face help protect all of their kids? Shouldn’t an institute of learning shine a light on the ugliness and reinforce the idea that all students are equal regardless of sexual orientation?
Bullying has been shown to be a major contributor to the motives students cite for violently attacking their fellow students and teachers. Why would you turn your back on an opportunity for students, likely to be bullied, to share their experience and gain some support from their classmates?
Thanks to Amanda at Pandagon.
