Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Arkansas lad makes a stand for gay rights
I know who gets my vote for man of 2009. Will Phillips.
Phillips is ten years old and hopes to be a lawyer in the future (Will, if I’m still around I’ll be your first client). He’s a smart boy, skipping grades and such, and is comfortable talking about Teddy Roosevelt. He recently decided not to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance when it was recited in his Arkansas elementary school. Why? Because there is a chasm between the words and the rhetoric, especially when gays and lesbians are involved.
“I’ve always tried to analyze things because I want to be a lawyer,” Phillips said. “I really don’t feel that there’s currently liberty and justice for all.”
He didn’t come to the decision compulsively off the cuff. Asked his parents, who have many gay friends, if it was against the law not to stand for the pledge. When he got the legal, and parental, okay, in early October he stayed seated as his class stood up. The teacher, a substitute, and Phillips didn’t see eye to eye on this type of civil disobedience and eventually the young Henry David Thoreau was sent to the principal’s office.
So a ten year old boy has decided it’s time to show little solidarity with gays and lesbians. Typically some of his peers are giving him grief, but Phillips notes many of his classmates have no problem with what he’s doing. And at least for now, he’s not standing up until gays and lesbians are treated as full, and equal, citizens.
Ten years old. What a wonder.
Do you suppose that OPRAH will have a place for him on her next “Amazing Kids” show. I think he has a lot to teach older folks about equality and in particular “liberty and justice for all”.
This kind of hope-giving news couldn’t come at a better time, it makes the future look promising.
And let us not forget that NOT participating in The Pledge in a moral backwater like The American South could be physically dangerous!!
My name is Laura Phillips and I am Will’s mom. I have to say, the article I found here are some of the best I have read about Will and his story. Thank you so much for your interest. If you have any other questions, I can be reached at nursenimue@yahoo.com and on facebook. Thank you again!
Laura Phillips
No, Laura, thank YOU!
Thank you, Will Phillips.
GodalwaysGood,
You are spam. Have a good day.
Sincerely,
James
Out of the mouths of babes. . .or in this particular case a very smart and decent young man. Laura Phillips, his mom, has every right to be a very proud and beaming woman, you have taught him well and people within the Gay community are so very appreciative.
Thanks Laura and thanks Will for showing more American fortitude and spirit than many of your fellow, supposedly older and more wise citizens!
OMG Laura, you’re an amazing mom!
Im a gay senior; you have absolutely no idea how bad things were when I was 10.
Thank god, for moms like you!!
There is hope after all!
“He didn’t come to the decision compulsively.”
It’s ‘compulsorily,’ for fuck’s sake.
What a wonder indeed.
From the mouths of babes.
Thank you, Will Phillips for showing the strength of character and resolve of a true patriot. I’m humbled by your act in the face of opposition.
Thank you, Laura Phillips. Today, November 13th would have been my mother’s birthday, and she as well as my father were excellent supportive parents of me their gay son. I’m the youngest of seven sons, and they believed in equality and equal treatment for us all. My parents always stood by me, as well as their gay friends and godchildren.
My mother always reminded everybody that there was only one law under her roof, and she was it!
Equality starts at home.
It is great to see that the future is going to be left up to such a great Heart and Mind. Thank you Will, and Laura, Thank you for instilling such greatness in your son. The future generations will thank you
Wow. Strong-minded kid with an incisive mind. I almost feel sorry for any teacher who tries to feed him BS on any subject.
Parents who encourage a child to ask why and to think for himself. Wow again. Thank you for loving him so much that you want him to have the tools to see the world through his own eyes, and you don’t seem afraid to do it.