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An Activist’s Life, by Thomas Leavitt » Blog Archive » Shame on you, Pulaski County Special School District staff and board!!!

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March 17th, 2003
Activism

Shame on you, Pulaski County Special School District staff and board!!!

Dear Supt. Henderson and Pulaski County Special School District Board,

What in the world were your school officials and teachers thinking, when they demanded that Thomas N. McLaughlin read from the Bible as a punishment(!) for denying he was ‘abnormal’ and ‘un-natural’ and then preached to him about homosexuality while he was under their authority in loco parentis? Did they somehow fail Civics 101 and never hear of the Bill of Rights and the basic principle of separation of Church and state?!?

These and the other actions by the school officials under your supervision in the matter of this young man are utterly despicable, and your utter failure to appropriately sanction those you supervise when made aware of their blantant violations of Thomas’ basic constitutional rights is likewise despicable. That young man is a hero for standing up for himself and demanding that he be treated like the 100% normal person he is! And his parents are heroes for accepting him as he is, and supporting him in this fight.

I sincerely hope, with every bone in my body, that he and his parents successfully sue your district for every penny they can legally obtain, and that you have to face the voters in your district and explain to them why your failure to enforce basic Constitutional norms will result in them having to pay higher taxes without any additional benefit — aside from educating district officials about basic Constitutional rights and the obligation of the schools to honor and respect all students, regardless of sexual orientation. Further, I hope you are each held personally liable for your absolutely negligent failure to properly train and discipline the staff under your supervision and have to file bankruptcy!

I hid my own bisexual orientation from everyone, including myself, until I was eighteen. Today’s kids understand that this should not be necessary, they see their peers coming out earlier and earlier - the average age of coming out for a white male is now thirteen years old. That makes Thomas utterly normal. The only abnormal thing is the reaction of the staff under your supervision to his simple desire to be himself, and be honest about it!

I am appalled that bigotry and the ignorance the behavior documented by the ACLU represents is allowed to persist at any school under your supervision. Young people, gay and straight alike, deserve respect and protection from those responsible for their care in and out of school. Your failure in that respect has made you a national disgrace. I will be urging everyone I know to write and give you a piece of your mind.

Regards,
Thomas Leavitt

Re: http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=12082&c=106

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2003 at 4:15 pm, and is filed under Activism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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