Kentucky High School Removes Gay Basketball Player from Yearbook Page

The sheer pettiness and mean spiritedness of the "godly folk" at times seems to know no bounds.  The gratuitous slights and insults that they direct towards LGBT individuals leaves one's mouth open in stunned disbelief.  Especially when the targets of such hate filled behavior is directed at the children of gays or LGBT Teens.  Betsy Layne High School in rural Kentucky provides us a recent glimpse at the ugliness of the "godly folk" and just how cruel they can be.  (In the spotlight of negative national media coverage, the high school claims it did not remove the gay player from the year book pages, but obviously, he was not magically removed himself).  Out Sports looks at the sad situation. 

Betsy Layne High School in rural Kentucky this year had a two-page yearbook spread that featured all of the seniors on the boys basketball team. Except, one senior was left out of the tribute: Dalton Maldonado, the team's starting point guard who came out publicly as gay a couple months ago.

This is the latest slap in the face of Maldonado and the entire LGBT community by a high school administration that simply won't accept that one of its star athletes is gay and was harassed for his sexual orientation by an opposing basketball team last December. The school's yearbook has omitted its starting senior point guard from the senior boys basketball tribute page in the yearbook, a deeply insulting blow to an athlete who has contributed to his school.

Maldonado is, in fact, missing entirely from the page's call-out list of players (even including underclassmen)

Maldonado confirmed with Outsports that each of the other players on the bottom of the page was a senior, and that he is the only player omitted from the page. He commented on Facebook about his omission from the yearbook tribute page, and other actions the school has taken to marginalize him and his story:

Then I had a person [affiliated] with the school tell me what they had learned about the school attempting to cover up the whole story. I recently saw my senior yearbook, I flipped right to the sports basketball page only to find my senior basketball picture missing...which devastated me.

The school has repeatedly refused to answer questions or disputed what Maldonado has claimed, despite various eye witnesses confirming that Maldonado was targeted by anti-gay harassment.

Maldonado has shared stories of discrimination by the school for the last few months, so it shouldn't be a surprise that people at Betsy Layne High School may demonstrate deep-seated homophobia by excluding him from such an important honor for recent high school graduates.

It's pretty disgusting. Principal Cassandra Akers and her staff need to answer to questions about the exclusion of Maldonado from such an important piece of the high school experience of Maldonado and so many other high school athletes.

Thankfully, Maldonado has found support from LGBT people and supporters both in and outside his hometown. This fall he will attend the University of Louisville, which already has provided him with a support structure.

This bigotry is beyond sick.  As noted previously, when I hear someone bloviating about their Christian faith or over hear them making homophobic remarks, I simply write them off as horrible, nasty people.  Thankfully, others appear to be doing likewise.  It's no coincidence that 34% of Millennials have walked away from organized religion, which in the USA means that they have walked away from Christian denominations.  As for Betsy Layne High School, the administrators involved in this bigotry need to be summarily fired.

Gay Porn Star, Will Return To High School After Suspension

A Florida high school has brought itself national ridicule after suspending a 18 year old student who reportedly was being bullied after word got out that he was performing in gay porn - reportedly to earn money to assist his financially strapped mother.  I'm not applauding the young man's job choice, but why wasn't the school punishing the bullies instead of the victim?  Sadly, turning a blind eye to bullying seems to be the norm with school administrators, especially in states like Virginia where the anti-bullying laws are little better than a joke if they are enforced at all. Huffington Post looks at the uproar at Cocoa High School in Brevard County, Florida.  Note how the assholes at the school define being gay as "a lifestyle choice."  Here are highlights:

A story made its rounds on the Internet this weekend after a Florida high school allegedly suspended senior Robert Marucci when the principal discovered the student had appeared in multiple gay porn movies on popular site Sean Cody.

Originally reported through Reddit, the poster claimed that Marucci had been severely bullied after his classmates discovered his after-school job, causing school administrators to allegedly suspend him for "causing a campus disturbance." This suspension would reportedly have meant that Marucci would be unable to graduate due to an automatic "failure from absences," according to the Daily Mail.

The move by the educational institution sparked outrage on social media, causing students to rally behind Marucci through Facebook groups and campus demonstrations.

Now, Click Orlando is reporting that following an investigation school administers are allowing Marucci to return to school grounds -- though they reportedly won't give an exact reason for the suspension, citing privacy laws.

“It’s easy to become emotional about a situation when it looks like a student is being targeted for his lifestyle choices, that is not the case here,” school district spokeswoman Michelle Irwin told reporters. “We will continue to work with the student and his family to make sure he graduates and moves on with his education.”

Marucci's mother, Melyssa Lieb, however, told reporters that she believes her son's work in adult films is why school administrators suspended him.

"She [Dr. Sullivan] flat out told me that my son was expelled not just suspended," she reportedly stated. "He was expelled due to his explicit, adult, lifestyle career."

Mom Blames Bullying And School Officials Who ‘Did Nothing’ For Son's Suicide

It's a story that we see time and time again: rampant bullying of those perceived to be gay and school officials who do nothing to stop.  Ultimately, the victim can take it no longer and opts to end his/her life as the only escape.  The scenario was what drove Christian Taylor to end his life after local York County, Virginia school officials did nothing to stop constant bullying.  Worse yet, in Virginia, since suicide is an unlawful act, Taylor's tormentors got away with murder.  Now, the same story is coming out of Iowa where a 16 year old ended his life in a disturbingly similar pattern.  Fueling all of this tragedy is religious based hatred and poison preached from pulpits that makes bullies feel down right justified in the abuse they heap on others.  All so that human refuse like Maggie Gallagher, Bryan Fischer and Tony Perkins can make a buck and feel morally superior.  The New Civil Rights Movement looks at this sad story.  Here are excerpts:

A grieving mother today is blaming school officials who “did nothing” to stem the rampant bullying she says caused her 16-year old gay son’s suicide. Sheryl Moore says 30-40 friends and classmates of her son, Alexander “AJ” Betts Jr., came to her after his death and all told her of the culture of bullying school administrators reportedly allow at Southeast Polk High School in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. Betts’ death is the fifth suicide in five years at Southeast Polk High School.

“AJ told the administration,” of the culture of bullying at Southeast Polk High School, Moore says,” and they did nothing about it.” Sadly, this is an all too common comment parents of LGBT teens who attempt or complete suicide often state.

Moore says her son was outed about a year and a half ago, and was bullied form both being gay and bi-racial.

The Des Moines Register notes that Betts attempted suicide on Friday, but “was on life support to repair damaged organs for donation. His mother Sheryl Moore said candidates have been selected to receive his liver and kidneys and doctors plan to take Betts off life support today.”

Note how racism and homophobia go hand in hand in this story.  What is most disheartening is that the school officials will likely get off with a slap on the risk at best.

Homophobia: Alive and Thriving in Our Public Schools

While things in general are getting better in terms of societal acceptance of gays, one sad exception remains many of the nation's public schools where the slightest action that might be deemed LGBT supportive can endanger a teacher's job and where administrators continue to suggest that being gays is something abominable.  I've written a number of times about the way in which gay bashing and anti-gay bullying continues as an unofficially endorsed sport in the local York County, Virginia school division.  True, the division purports to have an anti-gay bullying, but it seemingly is never enforced.  At least when the victims are gay or perceived to be gay.  But the foul anti-gay agenda of administrators who are either homophobes themselves or who lack the spine to stand up to bigoted parents spreads across the county.  Hence the story of a teacher who was suspended for playing a gay supportive song at the request of a student:

A Seattle-based hip-hop star is speaking out after a Michigan teacher was suspended for playing his gay-inclusive song in class.

In a Nov. 29 blog on his website, Macklemore called the suspension of Centennial Middle School teacher Susan Johnson "completely out of line and unjust." Johnson had allowed a student to play Macklemore's "Same Love," which contains lyrics like "I might not be the same, but that's not important/No freedom 'til we're equal, damn right I support it," in class.
Macklemore noted:

"This incident is just one of tens of thousands that have happened across the country where schools have exposed a latent homophobia, preventing safe space for all young people to feel confident in being themselves. It’s clear that Ms. Johnson felt bullying and 'gay bashing' were issues that needed to be addressed, and by doing so, was punished."

Saying that he wrote "Same Love" in hopes that the song "would facilitate dialogue and through those conversations understanding and empathy would emerge," Macklemore concludes:

"It’s discouraging that a song about love and civil rights has led to a teacher getting suspended from her job. But that’s where we are at. For those of us who get a pit in our stomach when reading a story like this, it just makes it abundantly clear there is far more work to be done."

And then there's this story out of Arizona where two male students were punished by having to hold hands in front of the entire school so as to subject them to anti-gay taunts:

A first-year principal in Mesa, Ariz., has been thrown into the spotlight for employing a controversial -- yet apparently effective -- method of student discipline.

When two Westwood High School students got in a fist fight during class this week, Principal Tim Richards gave the teens an choice: suspension or public humiliation -- by sitting next to each other holding hands in the school courtyard.

The students chose the latter, hanging their heads as peers watched and taunted them from all sides. Westwood students found the stunt funny.

"Kids were laughing at them and calling them names asking, 'Are you gay?'" student Brittney Smyers told ABC 15. 

Photos of the freshman and sophomore hand-in-hand gained attention online, drawing praise from some who called the punishment effective. Charles Crockett, 14, one of the boys involved in the tussle, admitted to KPHO that he won't fight again. And while the punishment only lasted an hour, Charles says he skipped school the next day because the teasing became unbearable.

But critics say that the punishment encourages bullying, allowing students to publicly taunt the teens. Others have suggested that it sends a negative message about gay students by asserting that two males holding hands is an embarrassent.

[T]e district isn't standing behind the principal's move. District officials have released a statement, which reads in part:

The district does not condone the choice of in-school discipline given these students, regardless of their acceptance or willingness to participate. District leadership will address this matter with the school principal, and review district protocol regarding student discipline with all administrators.

Thankfully, the school division in Mesa, Arizona isn't backing the principal's actions.  But generally, such is not the case.  And what motivates all this anti-gay hate and bullying.  You guessed it, the "godly Christian" set and their insistence that anyone who doesn't conform to their Neolithic era derived religious beliefs be punished.  There is no better argument against Christianity than many of its alleged followers who worship hate and fear and trash the Gospel message.