How much you want to bet they’d do this to a kid who organized a "Day Of Truth"…?

OK… Thanks to a blog reader and supporter over in Tennessee, I’ve gotten copies of the articles (which were never online) concerning David Crockett High School senior Curtis Walsh, who was dismissed from school for a day after organizing the Day of Silence at his school.

The Day of Silence is a national event in which middle, high school and college-aged students take a vow to silence, symbolically representing the silence that is forced upon LGBT people every day by our society.

The articles (which can be viewed as photos: Page 1 and Page 2) state, in part:

Senior Curtis Walsh said he was dismissed for the day early Wednesday morning by David Crockett High School principal Henry Marable for his own safety.

…

“I showed up at school and within two minutes (Marable) called me and three others into his office. After first period I was dismissed for the day.”

…

Marable as well as Director of Schools Grant Rowland said they had no comment on anything pertaining to the student of the “Day of Silence,” in which several students reportedly left school early.

However, Rowland was quoted by a local television station later in the day:

“One student and one reporter caused one heck of a mess to be stirred up for no reason,” said Rowland in regard to the article on the “Day of Silence” that appeared in Wednesday’s edition of the Johnson City Press.

This principal has apparently kept Curtis out of his school ever since the Day of Silence…

Zina Owens, the mother of Tennessee high school senior Curtis Walsh, who was dismissed from school after organizing the Day of Silence, gives us an update.

As it seems, Curtis was kept out of school not only on the Day of Silence (Wednesday, April 18th) but also on Thursday, April 19th and Friday, April 20th.

Just wanted to give you an update on Curtis Walsh, the Tennessee senior who was dismissed for supporting the day of silence. I am Curtis’ mother. On Wednesday, he was sent home as the newspaper article said, but we were given NO REASON (the paper said for his own safety). On Wednesday afternoon about 4:00, I received a phone call from Marable, the principal, and he said that Curtis did not need to come to school on Thursday. I asked if he had been threatened (Curtis) or if it was a punishment. He replied, “It don’t matter, He just don’t need to be here.” On Thursday afternoon my husband, Curtis’ STEP-FATHER, NOT HIS MOTHER, received a call from Marable saying that Curtis did not need to be in school on Friday. As you may guess, this fight is NOT over.

This story hasn’t really gotten all that much attention yet… but I hope it will. What is happening to Curtis is beyond unacceptable.

Gotta love it… “It don’t matter, He just don’t need to be here.”  Right.  Anyone who agitates on behalf of the dignity of gay kids let alone their safety, doesn’t need to be in Henry Marable‘s school.  Sorta gives you a flavor for what life is like for gay kids that have to walk those halls doesn’t it?  Meanwhile Pat Robertson’s legal sharks are threatening any school that refuses to support their "Day Of Truth" with litigation.

Contact info for David Crocket High School in Jonesborough, Tennessee can be found, Here.  More info on another kid who was punished for organizing a Day Of Silence, and a school in Indiana that was put into a lockdown over threats of violence during the Day Of Silence, Here.  You can suppose that Jay Sekulow won’t be stepping up to defend the rights of those students…

…or This Teacher who allowed this student editoral calling for tolerance toward gay students to be published.  She stands to loose her job now , for allowing these highly controversial words to be published in the student newspaper, and read by impressionable young minds…

Would it be so hard to just accept them as human beings who have feelings just like everyone else? Being homosexual doesn’t make a person inhuman, it makes them just a little bit different than the rest of the world. And for living in a society that tells you to always be yourself, it’s a hard price to pay.

Well we wouldn’t want our kids taking any of that shit seriously now would we?

You’ve got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You’ve got to be taught
From year to year,
It’s got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

(Rodgers & Hammerstein, South Pacific)