Consider, if you will, the story of Jay McDowell, a high school teacher in Howell Township, Michigan suspended without pay for clearly stating that anti-gay speech was not acceptable in his classroom.
On October 20, McDowell’s school district participated in Spirit Day, a national effort to draw attention to bullying against LGBTQ students. Supporters were encouraged to wear purple as a symbol of solidarity; McDowell wore a purple t-shirt that day. During his economics class, McDowell asked a student wearing a Confederate flag belt buckle to remove the buckle (in accordance with district policy). Another student, Daniel Glowacki, took exception, claiming that there was no difference between the buckle and the t-shirt. According to the school district, "The student was speaking out on being offended by the gay and lesbian lifestyle because it's against his religion [and] the teacher said that wasn't appropriate." I have to agree with McDowell that wearing a racist symbol is not equivalent to participating in an activity about support and equality.
The teacher and student had a spirited discussion, resulting in McDowell removing Glowacki from the classroom using an administrative referral. The exact nature of their exchange is somewhat unclear due to second-hand reports and confidentiality of personnel actions. What is clear is that as a result of McDowell disciplining Glowacki, the teacher was suspended for one day without pay and required to attend a First Amendment training session. To be clear: McDowell was disciplined for participating in a district-sponsored activity, enforcing a district policy, and disciplining a student who used his religion as a shield and spear against gay students.
What is also clear is the chilling message sent by Howell Public Schools Superintendent Ron Wilson when addressing the discipline: "All the student was doing was voicing an opinion. The same thing would have been done had the student been on the other side. As superintendent, it's my responsibility to foster fair, respectful treatment of all staff and students." This is bizarre and unsupportable. Not every opinion requires a balancing voice. Would the district stand behind a teacher who allowed a student to express racist views because they provide a "fair" balance in a discussion of Affirmative Action?
I can certainly imagine a classroom discussion about all sides of any civil rights issue. A respectful presentation of the challenges of fair treatment in a social studies course might be reasonable. Allowing a student to engage in a shouting match that labels other students’ "lifestyles" as offensive is something quite different. This is the same illogic that led the Washington Post to "balance" coverage of the It Gets Better Project with a venomous editorial by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council.
Sadly, this fair, respectful treatment does not flow both ways. Seth Stambaugh, gay student teacher in Beaverton, Oregon, was removed from his classroom for answering a student’s question about his marital status. A straight teacher providing similar information (even implicitly) would never have suffered the same consequences. Squeamish bigots immediately accuse LGBT teachers and students of bringing the bedroom into the classroom, a laughable claim.
One upside to both stories is the community support the teachers received. Stambaugh saw letter-writing campaigns from families and teachers supporting him. McDowell had a great turnout at a Board hearing on his case, including an amazing defense by Graeme Taylor, a gay 14-year-old in his school. Stambaugh eventually saw his removal reversed as his district learned from the experience and moved forward. Let’s hope that McDowell will see similar justice.
The past six weeks have seen a dramatic shift in the national conversation about bullying and school safety. YouTube projects, Facebook campaigns, and numerous editorials are shining a bright light on the challenges faced by too many students and asking our educational institutions to step up to the problem. Sadly, real efforts at change are often crushed by the myth of "fair and balanced" treatment.
(h/t to towleoad for the Graeme Taylor video and Edge Boston for the parallel coverage of McDowell and Stambaugh. Also published on The Solipsistic Me.)