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 School District Stands Behind Principal Who
Outed Gay Teen Couple
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: May 5, 2008 - 3:00 pm ET
(Memphis, Tennessee) A principal who outed two
gay students, claiming they were a couple, did nothing wrong the Memphis Schools
board says.
Last week the American Civil Liberties Union
demanded that Hollis F. Price Middle High School Principal Daphne Beasley be reprimanded.
(story)
In a letter to the school board the ACLU said
that Beasley posted the names of the two boys on a list of students believed to
be couples, revealing their relationship to their parents as well as other
students and teachers.
The letter said that Beasley told the teens that they could not study together or walk together while on school
grounds.
The letter accused Beasley of violating the
students’ constitutional right to freedom of association. In its letter the
ACLU demanded that the school board implement new policies that would prevent "these
types of acts from occurring" in the future.
But the school board says that Beasley did
nothing wrong and was following policy.
In a reply to the ACLU the board said that the
middle school is located on the campus of LeMoyne-Owen College and that the
college had complained "that some of our student couples were involved in
explicit sexual behavior in public view on the college campus."
As a result, the school board said "faculty and staff,
the principal of Hollis F. Price made several general announcements
to the student body that this behavior would not be tolerated."
"Regrettably, the improper behavior
continued," the school board said in its reply to the ACLU.
"Therefore, the
principal felt it appropriate to notify the parents of those
children she knew to be involved romantically."
The board said that the parents of students who
were opposite sex couples also were notified that Beasley "certainly did not specify the sexual orientation of
any student. Additionally, the list was never posted publicly
anywhere at the school."
©365Gay.com 2008
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