The matter quickly became complicated at the school board meeting, due to conflicting stories of what actually took place. Students in the class who were questioned gave different versions of events, from the anti-gay student being sent to the hall to Mr. McDowell fuming and yelling.
But the real focal point of the board meeting was fourteen-year-old Graeme Taylor's defense of Mr. McDowell's actions. Taylor eloquently spoke of his tough experience as a gay student in school, and how McDowell's actions had inspired him. Check out his defense.
Jay McDowell was suspended, but Graeme Taylor's amazing defense has reached many nonetheless. Taylor was recently invited as a guest on Ellen DeGeneres's talk show Ellen to talk about his speech and gay rights.
As a Michigan resident, I happen to know that the city Jay McDowell teaches at, Howell, is rather conservative and not exactly gay-friendly. It is probably a nightmare for gay adolescents in school, and I think Graeme's steadfast reasoning and strength is to be commended!
I think its really great that this teacher spoke out against homophobic slurs and beliefs, despite the fact that he was suspended. Teachers are role models for their students, so its really important that the students at this school understand that homophobia is an issue and discriminatory. A lot of people barely believe that homophobia exist or that its wrong, because there is still so much debate about whether or not it is a choice or not to be gay. Also, homosexuality is still very controversial and its better that we have teachers in school help students understand and accept it rather than bashing against it and creating more hatred.
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that the person who spoke out for justice and understanding, is the one who ended up getting punished. It is also upsetting that the students who were there are divided on what actually happened. Either way this story dimonstrates the prevelence of anti-gay sentiment in our society, even coming from the youth. luckily there are people out there who care and will stand up for what they believe in.
ReplyDeleteThe level of absurdity depicted through this suspension is simply shameful to the school. Its preposterous that a teacher was reprimanded for defending a child from harassment. This shows that the world has quite some ways to go if teachers are penalized for defending the safety of their students. Hopefully the media attention that this situation got will be enough to prevent this uber conservative institution from doing something like this again.
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