Up there in Tennessee, which seems to be the latest hotbed of anti-LGBT activity, Chris Sigler, a 17-year-old senior at Sequoyah High School, was ALLEGEDLY shoved, bumped in the chest and verbally harassed by his principal for wearing a T-shirt in support of efforts to establish a gay-straight alliance (GSA) club on campus.
A T-shirt.
Now, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Tennessee is involved and has sent a letter to the school district today demanding that students’ rights to free speech be protected in the classroom.
The ACLU has been assisting Chris Sigler, in his and other students’ efforts to establish a GSA at Sequoyah, but Principal Maurice Moser has continually threatened to punish students who circulated petitions about the club. On the day of his attack by the principal, Chris Sigler was wearing a T-shirt he made, that said: “GSA: We’ve Got Your Back.”
How out of control.
One of Sigler's teachers ordered him to cover up the shirt in the future, but Chris knew he had the right to wear it, and he did, that following Friday. He was then ordered to remove the shirt, and he refused. He says that Principal Maurice Moser then ordered all students out of the classroom, except for Sigler’s sister Jessica, who refused to leave.
Then, according to brother and sister, Moser grabbed Chris Sigler by the arm, shoved him, and chest-bumped him repeatedly while asking “Who’s the big man now?”
Um, that would not be you, Principal Maurice Moser. Not by a long shot.
When Chris Sigler’s mother--who had been called about her son--arrived, she found Chris seated at a desk with Principal Moser leaning over him and shouting in her son’s face. The Siglers filed a report that afternoon with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.
It's bad enough when students bully students, or when teachers are inappropriate, but a principal shouting "Who's the big man now?" is reprehensible.
Chris Sigler: “All I want is to have a GSA at my school to help stop the bullying against gays and lesbians and their friends who support them/ The shirt was a way to use my voice and show my support for the club. The way I was treated shows even more why we need a GSA here.”
Amanda Goad, staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project: “All students deserve a safe and respectful learning environment. Harassment, abuse or censorship of any student – regardless of sexual orientation – is absolutely reprehensible as well as illegal. We expect the police to investigate this quickly and fairly, and take statements from all witnesses who were present.”
Hopefully, the school can form a GSA and people like Principal Maurice Moser will be exposed as bigots and homophobes and bullies.
And I sincerely hope that this costs that principal his job!
ReplyDeleteJust last month the town next to us banned all non-curriculum clubs in attempt to stop a GSA club. Lasted two weeks. Newspaper and citizens gave them such a hard time. When our school board attempted to ban a book it also lasted two weeks. Again newspaper and citizens had a fit. So, all in all, even though the barbarians still think they are in charge. They aren't.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing better than watching homophobia unmasked. It's interesting to see who is willing to admit what they did was wrong, and who is too blinded by their own bigotry to realize.
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