I am just beside myself tonight. This afternoon I got a frantic call from my sister in North Carolina. Her 18 year old son was outted at his school today. She had expected he was gay, but due to her religious beliefs, never wanted to believe it. Well today, he was outed at his private Christian school. The principal called him in to his office to ask if the allegations against him were true, and he admitted that they were. He was immediately kicked out of school. He's a senior and was scheduled to graduate with honors in just 4 months. Can they do this?
The full story is below the fold.
The whole thing started with some bigoted holier than thou kid playing a prank. My nephew is on two sports teams at school and is very athletic. Nobody would consider him the stereotypical gay guy. Apparently a classmate thought it would be funny to play a prank on him and signed up with a fake Facebook account. On that Facebook account, he pretended to be gay. He contacted my nephew and one thing led to another and my nephew admitted to this "fake" person that he was gay. Well, that kid took a screen shot, printed it out and showed it to several people at school. My nephew apparently then said he knew it was a prank, but the damage was done. He was outted. The school has a strict policy about "alternative lifestyles" and he was called in to the principal's office. To make matters worse, my nephew sent a few graphic photos of himself and those had been turned in to the principal's office too. The school said that alone was enough to kick him out.
My sister and her zealot husband both confronted him when he arrived home. They told him that he needed to speak to the family minister and pray for forgiveness and "deliverance from this sin". Well, instead of meeting with the family minister, he skipped town. He called me and told me he is on the way to my house in Florida. This is probably a 12 hour drive for him. My sister has told me to turn him away, but I can't do that. I know I risk the relationship I have with her by taking him in, but how could I possibly turn him away? He is scared and incredibly hurt. He knows that we do not judge in my home and is seeking refuge here.
What do I do? What do I say? The kid was just outted, then kicked out of school because of it. I really don't know how to handle the situation.
UPDATE: Wow the rec list? Thanks!
Let me say, I am not going to turn him away. He is welcome in my home as long as he needs a place to stay. I will be the open arms, the listen ear, the loving heart, and the best aunt I can be. Thank you all for the advice about trying to get him in to a local school so he can graduate on time. He is a very bright boy and has the potential for a full athletic scholarship to at least one school. He must graduate though in order to receive the scholarship.
I just don't know what to say to him when he gets here. I guess I can offer him love and understanding. I will work on my sister and her husband and hope that they see how wonderful their son is. I would expect him to be to my home around midnight. I'm very nervous. I do not know what his state of mind is. When he called me a few hours ago, I could tell in his voice that he had been crying. I confirmed my address with him and told him to drive safely. He thanked me and hung up the phone.
My sister has called me since I wrote this diary and commanded me to tell her son to go to a Tampa church that can "cure" him. I told her he didn't need to be cured and she hung up on me.
