Catholic School Is Banning a Gay Student From Receiving Matt Shepard Scholarship at Awards Ceremony

School Has Disturbing History of Anti-LGBT Attacks

Last year a Catholic School in Iowa fired a substitute teacher and volunteer track coach not because he was gay, they said, but because he was openly-gay. Hundreds of students, including Liam Jameson, staged a walkout, and protested school administrators at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Sadly, Tyler McCubbin was not reinstated. 

That’s just one example of the bravery and leadership Liam Jameson has exhibited.

But in an open letter, Jameson writes, because he is gay, he also attempted suicide. 

“I tried killing myself, more than once, stopping each time before I could get any further. I dreaded having to go to school the next day,” Jameson says. “I felt alone and afraid, just hoping for someone to notice me. I wondered what my life would be like. Would this equate to what the rest of my life would be like? Would I be alone? Do I even matter? I asked myself these questions every day, longing to know what the universe had in store for me.”

But Jameson says he made a choice. 

“I vowed that no one should have to go through the experiences that I have, whether they are LGBT or not. So I decided that I would make an example of myself. I would be the person that I wished was there when I needed them the most . . . having a safe environment for LGBT students where they don’t feel the need to self-harm or commit suicide.”

And he was able to form an LGBT club/safe space at his school, thanks in part to the nearly 2000 signatures he was able to collect on a petition.

“I wanted to leave Dowling a better place, one worthy enough to educate all the brave souls who have had lives far better and far worse than mine. A space for all,” he writes. “A space that valued the few just as much as it valued the many. That space is now called One Dowling Family, formerly One Human Family. Dowling was once the bane of my existence but is now a place that I enjoy the most. I left a legacy at Dowling. Through all the meetings, missed class, detentions, and verbal reprimands, I can leave Dowling knowing that I made it a better place, one that provides students a place where they can be free.”

“Because of my efforts at Dowling, I was awarded a Gold Matthew Shepard Scholarship by the Eychaner Foundation in Des Moines.”

But Dowling Catholic refuses to allow the scholarship to be awarded to Jameson at its May 5 awards dinner. They’ve even changed the rules several times, he says, to prevent it.

Jameson has a new Change.org petition, asking the school to allow him to receive his award this week. And yesterday, his former teacher, Tyler McCubbin, posted this tweet urging people to sign it:

“The fact the school banning this kid, who has already suffered so much from religion and pressures from society, from receiving this leadership honor is a disgusting display of the worst of Christianity,” Outsports’ Cyd Zeigler writes. “In all my years at Sunday school and reading the Bible, I never read about Jesus shaming gay people or those who are particularly susceptible to suicidal thoughts. In fact, I seem to remember the complete opposite.”

“Jesus Christ himself is ashamed of every single person at this school who led to this decision,” Zeigler says.

 

RELATED:

Student Pens ‘Conscience’ Letter To Catholic School That Denied Job To Openly Gay Teacher

Hundreds Of Students Walk Out To Protest Catholic School Refusal To Hire Gay Teacher

Iowa Bishop: Teacher’s Job Offer Not Rescinded Because He’s Gay, But Because He’s Openly-Gay

 

Image via Change.org