Ethics

Principal Outs Gay Student Couple

By Ed Brayton

Here's one of the more outrageous stories you'll hear today. A high school principal in Memphis heard that two students were a gay couple and she posted their names where everyone could see it:

In September of 2007, the principal at Hollis F. Price Middle College High told teachers she wanted the names of all student couples, "hetero and homo," because she wanted to monitor them personally to prevent students from engaging in public displays of affection.

The two students now represented by the ACLU, Andrew and Nicholas (who have asked that their last names not be revealed), were two A students who had been seeing each other for a short time and were attempting to keep their relationship quiet and private.

The principal heard about them through another student, then wrote their names on a list she posted next to her desk, in full view of anyone who entered her office.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on April 30, 2008 (boomark / email).