Superintendent: Censoring Student’s Homosexuality ‘Consistent With The Mission Of Our School’
A public school superintendent is under fire for censoring a year book profile of a high school junior by not allowing it to be published — because it includes the fact that he is gay. Taylor Ellis (image, above), who is 17 and has been openly gay in his Sheridan, Arkansas school for two years, is fighting back.
The profile was one of seven written by Sheridan High School yearbook editor Hannah Bruner and censored by Sheridan Superintendent Brenda Haynes and Principal Rodney Williams.
Haynes says that the decision to scrub the profile is “consistent with the mission of our school.”
Haynes’ statement reads:
We must make decisions that lead in the proper direction for all of our students and for our community. We must not make decisions based on demands by any special interest group. The seven profiles will not be published in the yearbook.
We have reviewed state law, court cases, and our own policies. It is clear that the adults who have the responsibility for the operation of the District have the obligation to make decisions which are consistent with the mission of our school. We have done so.
But Ellis disagrees. And he’s getting support from Chad Griffin, the head of the Human Rights Campaign, who just happens to be an Arkansas native. The 17-year old’s bio, which now appears on HRC’s site, reads:
“I use to be scared to say that I’m gay,” Taylor Ellis, junior, said. “It’s not fun keeping secrets; after I told everyone, it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.”
Ellis’s “secret” was first shared in the summer of 2012, with his friend Joelle Curry, junior, and his mother, Lyn Tillman.
“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Tillman said. “I don’t care because he’s my son, and I know he’s happier.”
Ellis, who said he struggles with depression, which has gotten better since he has come out.
However, Ellis waited until spring break of 2013 to tell the rest of his peers; he did so through the social media site, Instagram.
I put it in my bio, and hashtagged pictures,†Ellis said. “When people would ask me about it, I just said ‘yes I am,’ and that was that.”
Although the thought of coming out, and the repercussions of doing so, frightened Ellis at first, he found that most of the student body, as well as the teachers, were very accepting of him.
I wrote about it in Mrs. Williams class; it was when I first came out,” Ellis said. “She told me she was glad I shared that with her. We had a stronger bond after that, I think.”
“He had poured himself into it,” Summer Williams, sophomore English teacher, said. “It was one of the best ones I read. I was just so proud of his openness, and his honesty. It was a risk; sharing that with his classmates, but they were very accepting. It was good for him. I could tell he felt better after writing about it.”
Ellis found that while people do not treat him with disrespect, some do seem to be more distant.
“Some guys are more reserved around me now,” Ellis said. “But not a lot of people have been mean about it, thank God. I’m actually in a good situation. I’m very lucky.”
Here’s local Arkansas TV stations KATV’s coverage:
KATV – Breaking News, Weather and Razorback Sports
Griffin has sent the letter, below, to Superintendent Haynes and Principal Williams:
//www.scribd.com/embeds/213315275/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true
Image: Screenshot via KATV
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