Daily Kos: School District Tells Gay Man He Can't Speak At Graduation:
by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)
LITTLE ROCK, AR-- The graduate of a northeast Arkansas School has been uninvited to speak at Sloan-Hendrix High School's graduation this year.Bryant Huddleston feels because he is a gay man that Superintendent Mitch Walton told him he couldn't speak, because two school board members felt there were concerns for the community.
That is the lead from
this story from the local Fox News station His younger sister is one of the graduates. His father, a retired state trooper, is President of the School Board. The Superintendent decided to put the invitation to a vote, then told the father he could not vote, the vote ended in a 2-2 tie and the invitation was rescinded.The page to which I link contains the letter Bryant Huddleston sent to the Superintendent. You need to read it. Here are the final three paragraphs of that letter:
Finally, I heard someone say that progress comes from those who are willing to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. We are currently fighting against inequality in our country. It's a fight--by the way--which we will ultimately win. Your decision to ban me from speaking solely because I'm gay is not unlike the arguments white men made years ago, to not allow black children to share the same school house halls with white children. It's the same thing, Mr. Walton, it's called discrimination. And, in closing, in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt:"...Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world."
Today, by your actions, that small place is in a small town called Imboden, where decisions are made around a small table, surrounded by five men and a School Superintendent. So, next time you're faced with an important decision, I hope you take time to think twice, have a proper dialogue, and most importantly choose to be on the right side of history.
