Louisiana School Punishes 7-Year-Old Boy for Talking About His Lesbian Moms
[Here are some local articles:
ACLU defends student’s use of word ‘gay’ (photo of parents)
Easton: No apology owed to student (photo of head of school board, and supt. that clearly does not have even the slightest clue)
Here is a Washington Post article: In La. School, Son of Lesbian Learns ‘Gay’ Is a ‘Bad Wurd’
-Thomas]
URL:
http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=14481&c=104
Louisiana School Punishes 7-Year-Old Boy for Talking About His Lesbian Moms
December 1, 2003
LAFAYETTE, LA - After a 7-year-old boy was scolded in front of his
classmates and sent to a school behavioral clinic for answering another
child’s questions about his lesbian mothers, the American Civil
Liberties Union today demanded that the school expunge the boy’s
disciplinary records and stop restricting him from talking about his
family with other students.
ACLU Gives Lafayette School an F in Conduct
LAFAYETTE, LA - After a 7-year-old boy was scolded in front of his
classmates and sent to a school behavioral clinic for answering another
child’s questions about his lesbian mothers, the American Civil
Liberties Union today demanded that the school expunge the boy’s
disciplinary records and stop restricting him from talking about his
family with other students.
“I was concerned when the assistant principal called and told me my son
had said a word so bad that he didn’t want to repeat it over the phone,”
said Sharon Huff, the second-grader’s mother. She added, “But that 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. No
child should ever hear that, especially not from a teacher he trusted
and respected.”
Marcus McLaurin was waiting in line to go to recess on November 11 at
Ernest Gallet Elementary School when a classmate asked him about his
mother and father. He responded that he didn’t have a mother and
father; instead he has two mothers. When the other child asked why,
Marcus told him that it was because his mother is gay. The other child
then asked what that meant, and Marcus explained, “Gay is when a girl
likes another girl.”
Upon hearing this, Marcus’s teacher scolded him in front of his
classmates, telling him that “gay” is a bad word and he should never say
it at school, then sent him to the principal’s office instead of letting
him go to recess. The following week the school required Marcus to
attend a special behavioral clinic at 6:45 in the morning, where he was
forced to repeatedly write “I will never use the word ‘gay’ in school
again.”
“To tell a 7-year-old boy that he can’t talk about his family not only
makes that child feel confused and hurt - it violates his Constitutional
right to free speech and equal treatment,” said Ken Choe, a staff
attorney from the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project who is handling
the matter. “At the ACLU we often deal with schools that mistreat treat
gay children and children who have gay parents, but this is beyond the
pale.”
On a student behavior contract form that Marcus had to fill out and give
to his mother about the incident, Marcus wrote that the thing he did
wrong was that he “sed bad wurds.” A handwritten note at the top of the
form from Marcus’s teacher further explains: “He explained to another
child that you are gay and what being gay means.” On a behavior report
form signed by the assistant principal, the teacher wrote, “Marcus
decided to explain to another child in his group that his mom is
gay. He told the other child that gay is when a girl likes a
girl. This kind of discussion is not acceptable in my room. I feel
that parents should explain things of this nature to their own children
in their own way.” The forms can be viewed online at
http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=14478&c=104
http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=14480&c=104
“Of course we believe that parents should be the ones who talk with
small children about things like sex, but Marcus McLaurin’s school seems
to think that he was talking about sex when all he was talking about was
his two mothers,” said Joe Cook, Executive Director of the ACLU of
Louisiana. “The fact is that there are children of lesbian and gay
parents in schools throughout Louisiana, and those children have the
same right as any other children to talk about their families.”
In its letter to the principal of Ernest Gallet Elementary School, the
ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project and the ACLU of Louisiana demand
that the school remove all mentions of the incident from Marcus’s
disciplinary record and refrain from restricting his speech in the
future, and offer apologies to Marcus and his mother. The text of the
ACLU’s letter follows this release.
December 1, 2003
BY FACSIMILE AND MAIL
Virginia Bonvillain
Principal
Ernest Gallet Elementary School
2901 East Milton Avenue
Youngsville, LA 70592
Dear Ms. Bonvillain:
We at the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the
American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana represent Sharon Huff, the
mother of Marcus McLaurin, a 7-year-old second-grade student at your
school. On November 11, 2003, school officials disciplined Marcus
solely because he informed a classmate that his mother is a
lesbian. Their actions violated his constitutional rights to free
expression and equal treatment. Moreover, by communicating to him that
it is wrong to speak about his family, they caused him considerable
distress. We seek to work with you to resolve this matter without
resort to litigation.
The Supreme Court has long recognized that students do not
“shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at
the schoolhouse gate.” Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Community Sch.
Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969). It is clearly established that the
expression to which a student is constitutionally entitled includes
expression involving issues of sexual orientation. See, e.g., Henkle v.
Gregory, 150 F. Supp. 2d 1067 (D. Nev. 2001) (holding that a school
official may not silence a student when he or she speaks out about
issues of sexual orientation).
In addition, the Constitution forbids you from
discriminating between students with heterosexual parents and students
with lesbian or gay parents. Such discrimination is a form of sexual
orientation discrimination as well as sex discrimination, and
disparately penalizes the exercise of the fundamental right to personal
autonomy. See Lawrence v. Texas, 123 S. Ct. 2472 (2003) (holding that
lesbian and gay couples have the same right to enter into relationships
as heterosexual couples); Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996) (holding
that disfavoring lesbian and gay people is never a legitimate aim of the
government).
The censorship and discrimination in which you have engaged
not only disregard the fundamental guarantees of the Constitution but
also undermine the educational mission of your school. Student
harassment is one of the most serious concerns facing schools
today. When a student is harassed, his or her ability to learn is
jeopardized. A student who is harassed may perform poorly in class,
abandon a school activity, or even suffer physical injury. The harm is
no less when a student is harassed because he or she is, or his or her
parents are, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). Indeed,
student harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity is
especially egregious and systemic. In a recent survey, 42% of LGBT
students reported physical harassment because of their, or their
parents’, sexual orientation or gender identity. The severity of the
harm of such harassment is recognized by the law. A school that does
not act to stop student harassment based on sexual orientation or gender
identity risks liability. Flores v. Morgan Hill Unified Sch. Dist., 324
F.3d 1130 (9th Cir. 2003); Nabozny v. Podlesny, 92 F.3d 446 (7th Cir.
1996). Given the serious consequences of student harassment based on
sexual orientation or gender identity, it is important that a school
discourage such harassment by encouraging statements that foster
tolerance of and respect for LGBT and LGBT-affiliated
peers. Disciplining Marcus for informing a classmate that his mother is
a lesbian does nothing toward this end. Indeed, by prohibiting Marcus
from making such a statement, school officials have done a disservice to
the best interests of the school community.
We demand that school officials refrain from taking further
disciplinary action against Marcus because he informed a classmate that
his mother is a lesbian, expunge all records of any reference to such
disciplinary action, give assurances that they will neither engage in
such censorship and discrimination in the future nor retaliate against
either Marcus or Ms. Huff, and offer apologies to both Marcus and Ms.
Huff. We ask you to contact Ken Choe at (212) 549-2553 immediately so
that we may discuss how best to resolve this matter. In the meantime,
this letter shall serve as notice that school officials are not to
destroy or alter any document related to this matter, including but not
limited to any document demonstrating that, as punishment, Marcus was
required to write, over and over, that he will never use the word “gay”
during school again.
Sincerely,
Ken Choe
Staff Attorney
ACLU Foundation
Lesbian and Gay Rights Project
Joe Cook
Executive Director
ACLU of Louisiana
cc:
James Easton
Superintendent
Lafayette Parish School District
Nicholas Thomas
Assistant Principal
Ernest Gallet Elementary School
David Valentine
Sarah Lawrence College
914.395.2363
dvalenti@slc.edu
http://www.geocities.com/davidvalentine2002
