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Austin's Atheism Blog

By Austin Cline, About.com Guide to Atheism since 1998

Boy Suspended for Describing Gay Family

Tuesday December 2, 2003
Some anti-gay activists would claim that homosexual activists have taken over our public schools and clamp down on any attempts to criticize homosexuality - but is that true? No. In reality, it can be very difficult for kids in public schools to discuss homosexuality in a positive way and treat it as if it were normal. That's what a 7-year-old Louisiana boy discovered when he explained to a friend that his mother is gay and that this means that his mother likes other women.

Planet Out reports:

Later that day, Marcus' mother, Sharon Huff, was concerned after receiving a call from the assistant principal, who informed her that Marcus was in trouble for using a word so bad that it couldn't be repeated over the phone. But her concern, Huff said, "was nothing compared to the shock I felt when my little boy came home and told me that his teacher had told him his family is a dirty word."
[Teacher Terry L.] Bethea said Marcus "told the other child that gay is when a girl likes a girl. This kind of discussion is not acceptable in my room," she continued. "I feel that parents should explain things of this nature to their own children in their own way." Marcus's final humiliation came during a one-hour "behavior clinic," where he was obliged to write repeatedly: "I will never use the word 'gay' in school again," the ACLU reports.

To call this entire situation ridiculous is an understatement. The ACLU wants the boy's record cleared and official to apologize - not only to the boy, but also to his parents. I agree that this should be done - and I also think that the teachers and administrators involved should attend their own "behavior clinic" where they learn how not to be such incredible doofuses. Maybe, with a lot of work and dedication, they'll somehow manage and then deserve to be in school again.

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