Gay student comes out to defend teacher suspended for protecting him
By Brian FairbanksNovember 15th, 2010, 9:48 amComments (6)
When two students were picking on fourteen-year-old high school freshman Graeme Taylor, his teacher removed them from class. Nothing special about that, right? Well, throw in the fact that Taylor is admittedly gay and his teacher was suspended for pulling the bullies from the classroom and you have a major news story in Howell, Michigan.
The teacher, Jay McDowell, was only ousted for a single day, but it's the principle of the thing that drew dozens of his staunchest supporters -- and a few enemies -- to a board of education meeting last week. Even though the board can't do anything about a suspension that is already over, outraged gay rights supporters want them to inquire as to why McDowell was suspended. Was it for standing up for a gay student? If the principal made the decision to suspend McDowell, will the board take action against that principal?
Taylor spoke at the meeting, as well, and the video of the speech started going viral over the weekend:
There's a diversity meeting in Howell tonight that supporters are planning to attend in large numbers, so the story probably doesn't end here.
Commentarium (6 Comments)
now, though young, is a REAL man.
Wow. This was my high school. It was really not the sort of place where a 14 year old could come out, and not expect bullying, sadly. This kid has some balls, no doubt. Good for him.
Very articulate young man. I am sure his parents are very proud and hope the school board corrects there mistake by making a formal apology to the teacher.
their**
I've always hated Howell. I hope they get this as right as it can be, after the fact.
Yeah, the fact that this happened in Howell doesn’t surprise me. Howell has a high density of bigots for the southern part of Michigan, enough that the KKK had a stronghold just outside of town.
Now you say something