Community | November 15, 2010 | 42 comments

Lesbian Students Stopped From Graduating

source: http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/11/15/Lesbian_Students_Stopped_from_Graduating/

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timetide
Two female high school students in Oklahoma are firing back at their school for refusing to let them graduate after discovering the two are a couple.

According to KWTV News, 18-year-old Melissa McKenzie said she was kicked out of Del City High School in Del City, Okla., at the beginning of the semester when the principal found out she was living with her girlfriend instead of her family. The principal then told her if she returned to her family's home, she would be welcomed back to school.

Kelsey Hicks (pictured), McKenzie's girlfriend, dropped out of school but wanted to finish her education so she could become a firefighter. Upon asking school leaders if she could return, she said they instead encouraged her to drop out.

"The principal will say 'Well, you're gay. You're not going to do anything with your life. You might as well just drop out now,'" Hicks said. "It's stuff to put you down that makes you want to drop out."

http://advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/11/15/Lesbian_Students_Stopped_from_Gra...
  1. groups:
    Community,   Gay,   LGBT,   LGBTQI
  2. tags:
    Discrimination,  Homosexual,  Lesbians,  high school graduation
  3.     
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42 comments // Lesbian Students Stopped From Graduating

  • covertops
    • 0
      covertops  

    • I thought u graduated high school based on grades in the classes u attended at said school. who cares how "messed up" u percieve someone's homelife to be. did they get their job done? were they 51/50? no. it doesnt appear that they were a threat to themselves or others.
      is it not a public school?
      why is it someone elses decision if u graduate? providing that u have held up your own part of your education and have passed all required of you; nothing else should be in your way.
      the school FAILS!

    • 1 year ago
  • CalgarC
  • noxidereus
    • 0
      noxidereus  

    • I don't think schools should kick anyone out based on where they live or who they live with. Schools should not have any influence whatsoever over a person's private life. A person's private life is the business of only themselves and their families. This kind of shit pisses me off -- holier than thou assholes who feel the need to have ultimate control over everyone's lives.

    • 1 year ago
  • RRRPirate
    • +1
      RRRPirate  

    • It is people like this that make high school students afraid to confront who they are going to be the rest of their lives. It is not as if these 2 girls are going to change their lifestyle because of the way they are being treated now. It is a confrontation they will face the rest of their lives and it is sad and sickening to see that anyone should still be treated like this. Allow people to be themselves and finish their education and that is it...it will not hurt the school or the students that attend that school with these girls to allow them to finish. It is one year that they have left to finish so the school administration can get off their high horse and allow them to be seen as students! People need to stop discriminating against people over well anything but this is becoming more prominent these days and if we don't confront it now they will never stop people from being prejudice over someones lifestyle.

    • 1 year ago
  • Dejan_Croatia
    • +1
      Dejan_Croatia  

    • now i want to know the whole story! if the principal said that in his or her exact words i will be like wtf! i hope this story is not exaggerating the claims.

    • 1 year ago
  • timetide
  • nanac
    • +1
      nanac  

    • The principal involved in this situation, should be fired..An educator's job is to encourage/motivate young people to get the best education that is possible for them to receive..This lady is crazy and she don't need to be around children..

    • 1 year ago
  • bike10
  • macdontcare
  • Johnny_Los_Angeles
    • 0
      Johnny_Los_Angeles  

    • All they need to do is get a good lawyer sue the ass of the school, principal whoever, teach this backwards religions morons a lesson on what is legal and not legal and that they cannot abuse their power, sue them for every penny they got get them all fired and unemployed, get enough money from the lawsuit to live as millionaires and then who will be living a life that amounts to anything?

    • 1 year ago
  • ThatCrazyLibertarian
  • pissedoffinarkansas
  • EtVoila
  • jamfan1921
  • KSirys
    • +2
      KSirys  

    • What a bigot!!! the principal and any other faculty that thought it was ok, need to be fired and send to jail!!! assholes!!

    • 1 year ago
  • Twinarp
    • +8
      Twinarp  

    • What a damn cheek the school has.
      What has a students sexuality got to do with whether or not they can graduate?
      Is "Heterosexuality 101" a mandatory class?
      Will other students flee in fear if they see two girls together?
      Selfish, bigoted fools. :( Join the 21st Century you jerks!

    • 1 year ago
  • cr00kshanks
  • huewr
    • huewr [removed]  
    • This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
  • Deadtheist
  • Deadtheist
    • +5
      Deadtheist  

    • How on earth does this man have any right to tell her what she may or may not do based solely on her sexual orientation? This girl has every right in the world to an education and someone telling her she isn't allowed to because she's gay is beyond hypocritical and goes against her rights as an American citizen and a human being.

    • 1 year ago
  • Ares
    • -16
      Ares  

    • Shame that the Fire Department she goes out for will now be forced to hire her, and that it won't matter that she already quit school and is obviously unqualified for the job. At what point, I wonder, did this revelation occur? Don't you love political hypocrisy?

    • 1 year ago
  • DisownCashValue
    • +6
      DisownCashValue  
    • Ares:

      if she can pass the physical test than she has every right to be a firefighter. no fire company will hire her just cause shes a lesbian. she needs a ged to apply for the job. what do you know about this profession? if anything, she'll encounter just as much bigotry and predjudice as anywhere else she already has.

    • 1 year ago
  • Ares
  • artemis6
  • FtheBULLSHT
  • macdontcare
  • ii386
    • +2
      ii386  
    • Ares:

      well ares...since you're a sweet old cool firefighter (which is pretty much irrelevant to this story) I guess you could go straight to the point and answer this question (the whole point of this thread):

      Do gay youths have a right to public education? In other words, does this girl deserve the same education that every other straight person gets?

    • 1 year ago
  • DisownCashValue
    • +1
      DisownCashValue  
    • Ares:

      ok i was just curious. my father is also a firefighter of 20 years. so why would a fire company hire her if she doesnt have a high school diploma or ged? are you trying to say this is like affermitive action for lesbians?

    • 1 year ago
  • Ares
    • -1
      Ares  
    • ii386:

      In a sequence to all of your questions:

      1. No
      2. VA, does it matter?
      3. Eloquently expressed, thank you for not elaborating.
      4. Not at all.
      5. I was asked what experience I had regarding the profession, that's why I brought it up. I was addressing the political nonsense that runs thick through every fire department in the country, not public education. She does, and she also deserves the choice to drop out. She took that option, but had second thoughts and is paying the price for her immaturity. She didn't make the choice to drop out because she's gay, she made it because she's an idiot. Deal with the consequences of your actions like the adult you're trying to be.
      6. They won't hire her if she doesn't have a high school diploma or equivalent, but they will be forced to hire her after she acquires these credentials because she is a lesbian, lest they face legal action for discriminating her obvious lapse in judgment on "the basis of her sexual orientation," which is how the story is going to read in the papers, just like it's reading now with the school board.

      Of course I'm not saying any minority group doesn't belong in the fire service, I'm saying it's a shame that fire departments are OBLIGATED to hire certain percentages of these minorities to avoid legal repercussions. There are a handful of lesbians on my department and you must always be on your toes around them, because they know they can complain to the brass about anything they find to be offensive and get their way over it. Equality means talking the same to everybody. Compassion shouldn't be a legally binding term.

    • 1 year ago
  • Dmerza1989
    • +2
      Dmerza1989  

    • I hope these girls get their college payed for by the school system. When a student is the trouble the school should be providing a safe haven but instead this school just kicks her out. It is completely absurd that a school will say oh you are living with your girlfriend? well then bye. The school should be saying we would like for you to talk to a school therapist /psychologist to talk about the troubles at your home and why you had to leave.

    • 1 year ago
  • littlwarrior
  • Deadtheist
  • timetide
  • littlwarrior
  • XasthurNortt
  • ozoneocean
  • mik661
  • PzLuvHappeniz
  • idealist
  • timetide
  • DisownCashValue
    • +2
      DisownCashValue  
    • timetide:

      "conform or we'll keep other people from seeing you.", seems to be the attitude in schools now days. remember that kid in texas who got ISS the whole year for refusing to cut his long hair? who cares about the first amendment? its only a piece of paper, right?

    • 1 year ago
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