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Filed under: Teens and tweens, Love and sex, In the news, SchoolsHere in San Francisco, being a gay high school student may not be the easiest path, but it is certainly not as dangerous as in other areas of the country. There are, sadly, places where simply being gay can -- and does -- lead to harassment, assault, and even death. I don't know where Tennessee falls on the tolerance scale, but given the 56 anti-gay hate crimes in 2007, I imagine it's not quite San Francisco.So, I could understand that teenage boys might not want to advertise their sexuality to the whole school. Too bad the principal at Hollis F. Price Middle College High School in South Memphis didn't understand that. Daphne Beasley asked her staff for the names of students who were paired up, ostensibly to be able to control public displays of affection at the school.Unfortunately, what she did with the list of couples was much worse -- she posted it where staff, students, and even parents could see it. On that list were Nicholas and Andrew, two boys who had just begun a relationship. "It was actually frightening," said Nicholas, an 11th grader, "to see a list with my name on it where not just other teachers could see but students as well."Since then, things have not been the same at school with the teachers and other students. Both boys have been subjected to verbal assaults and Nicholas was not allowed to join other students in rebuilding homes in New Orleans because, according to one teacher, he would "embarrass" the school with his gayness. So far, the response from the school district has been that no one did anything wrong. I guess what passes for wrong in Tennessee is not the same as elsewhere. "I really feel that my personal privacy was invaded," said Nicholas. "I mean, Principal Beasley called my mother and outed me to my mother!" I don't know about in Tennessee, but that counts as doing something wrong in my book.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments



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