Memphis principal harasses gay student couple
Hot on the heels of the national Day of Silence, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has notified the Memphis public schools that one of their principals violated the rights of two of her students by revealing publicly they were gay.
Daphne Beasley, the principal of Hollis F. Price Middle College High School, in September asked her staff over the school intercom to provide her the names of all “hetero and homo” couples in the school, so she could monitor public displays of affection.
She then posted the names of the students for all to see. In the process, she outed a gay couple to students, teachers and their parents. The two had just started a discreet relationship.
In the letter mailed yesterday, the ACLU charged that Beasley had violated the students’ constitutional rights to equal protection, freedom of expression and association, due process and privacy. The letter demands a response by May 9 to five demands, or the ACLU will pursue legal action.
The demands are (1) that policies be implemented to prevent similar acts in the future, (2) that the boys in question be compensated for the harm they suffered by being outed, (3) that Beasley be reprimanded, (4) that any records pertaining to the outed couple be removed from school districts records, and (5) that apologies be made to all the students on the couples list.
From Eyewitness News Channel 24 in Memphis:
“Our first reaction was wow, this is unbelievable that a principal has gone this far,” says ACLU attorney Christine Sun [who signed the letter.] “The constitution protects all of us from the government intruding in our private lives when there isn’t a reason to do that. This was morally and legally wrong.”
One of the young men, Nicholas, an 11th grader who just made the Dean’s List, spoke with Eyewitness News Everywhere.
“It was actually frightening,” he says, “to see a list with my name on it where not just other teachers could see but students as well.”
Other sources report that Beasley phoned the couple’s parents and repeatedly asked one of them, “Do you know your son is gay?” She also allegedly said that she would not permit any kind of homosexual activity in her school.
Good luck with that …
The school in question is about the size of St. Francis High School, where I teach. While it’s possible to identify most student couples, given the small population, why bother? From a practical standpoint, it’s easier and more effective to correct public displays of affection than to try to prevent them. We figure if those kind of PDAs don’t disturb the learning process, or other students and teachers, then let the couples be couples.
And yes, we have had gay and lesbian couples. Most have been even more discreet than the straight ones.
Clearly, Beasley’s pogrom arose from a deep-seated fear/hate of gays and lesbians. So sad, given that many students nationally just celebrated the Day of Silence, to oppose violence and discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender students. (Though there were schools that prevented their students from being silent — why I can’t imagine — because local communities did not want to appear to condone homosexual behavior.)
The Memphis schools are investigating the Beasley matter. We’ll see if she suffers any serious consequences, aside from being outed as terminally stupid.
