Two girls suspended for kissing in school

[Etoile]

Two girls at a Maryland high school were suspended for two days for kissing each other. The girls, who are straight, decided to do it to fulfill an English class requirement to perform a nonconformist act.

The suspensions sparked a protest demonstration -- a very small one, unfortunately. Two girls stood out by the highway with signs; responses from passing motorists alternated between a thumbs-up signal or an obscene gesture.

"If people can make out in the hallway and teachers turn a blind eye to it, why should two girls get punished for it?" one of the protestors -- who said she is heterosexual -- asked. She added that there is widespread prejudice in the school against any students who are perceived to be homosexual or bisexual, and that they face frequent bullying. The principal said he was unaware that there was a problem.

Officially the suspension was for disrupting the last period of the day, not for the same-sex public display of affection, but some students questioned whether any disruption -- which largely took the form of discussion -- would have occurred if the duo were a boy and a girl.

The above is from my mother's Livejournal. My addition is to note that if you have read about this on Yahoo, their headline is wrong. Yahoo's headline says the girls were expelled, even though the article itself does say suspended. I also note that I am familiar with the principal of the school the girls attend; he seemed like a friendly guy when I knew him but that was long before any GSAs were established in the county and that kind of thing wasn't talked about when I was in school there.

 

[College_geek]

Ugh, this reminds me of that horrible incident up in Maine, I think it was, a few years ago. The one with the two girls who won the superlative for Cutest Couple at their high school, but the school wouldn't allow it. People need to realize that we're in a modern day and age and just accept non-heterosexuality of any kind.

 

[Johnny Mayberry]

Those chicks have BALLS!

 

[Pookie]

The unfortunate part of all this is that the kissing was done in a manner that possibly could have resulted in the same thing if it had been a guy and girl kissing. One of the girls stood on top of a lunch table and shouted before kissing the other girl. If it had been a girl and guy involved, would the same have occurred as punishment? It's hard to know for sure unless there had been similar incidents in the past.

My feeling is that if it had been a girl/guy kissing that they would not have been suspended, but that is just my own speculation. The scene they created before the kiss makes it difficult to know for sure. The novelty of two girls kissing as they did probably caused much more of a scene than if it would've been a girl/guy. No matter, a suspension for what they did seems very harsh.

 

[DevilBoy79]

The unfortunate part of all this is that the kissing was done in a manner that possibly could have resulted in the same thing if it had been a guy and girl kissing. One of the girls stood on top of a lunch table and shouted before kissing the other girl. If it had been a girl and guy involved, would the same have occurred as punishment? It's hard to know for sure unless there had been similar incidents in the past.

My feeling is that if it had been a girl/guy kissing that they would not have been suspended, but that is just my own speculation. The scene they created before the kiss makes it difficult to know for sure. The novelty of two girls kissing as they did probably caused much more of a scene than if it would've been a girl/guy. No matter, a suspension for what they did seems very harsh.

i totally agree with this, if it was a guy and girl most of would happened was a slap on the wrist IF that, this just proves how much society sucks monkey ass

 

[sdedalus]

Not to say that the message wasn't good. But I think they got suspended for standing on the lunch table and causing a ruckous. I think that they should have just gotten detention or something, but if the principal was trying to send a message about such acts (being disruptive in the lunch room) he did a good job, however if he had suspended them merely for kissing in a hallway or something, then no I would not agree with that.

This was all over headline news last week. They covered it well.

 

[thickspear]

A few months ago Madonna french kisses two girls on tv and gets loads of attention, it's small wonder two girls decided to raise a small storm doing a kiss in class.

The thing that annoys people is that these girls exposed our muddled dual standard. They raise logical doubts of our unexamined beliefs and thereby threaten our entire phony concept of what is and what is right or wrong.

Challenging hypocritical and/or unexamined beliefs throws the powers that be into a quandry. It can be dangerous work so it's wise to consider the venue and the circumstances when challenging entrenched societal and cultural taboos.

Remember that Jesus raised the dead, fed the poor and healed the sick. It was only after he freed the religiously enslaved that the enslavers got really pissed off. The current crop of bigots is so full of hate it's scary. Imagine the fulminations if an account of Jesus having sexual intimacy with John (the servant that Jesus loved) should be discovered. That's an idea worth at least a movie....if anyone is brave or dumb enough to make it.

I didn't mean to rant...it's just that the story raises issues regarding society and it's reluctance to accept simple truths and it gets me up.

On the other hand, it's hilarious that national media carried the "sensational story" that two girls kissed in school. It's a funny, strange world.

 

[simonedb27]

i agree with thickspear. the funniest part of all of this is that two high school girls kissing is national news.

 

[ExTrEmE DyKe]

I think all schools are just about the same. The punishment for a gay or lesbian couple kissing is worse than if it were a straight couple kissing. But these girls have some balls. If I were them, I would stand out in the road beside the school off of school property and kiss all day just to piss people off even more.
A few weeks ago, I went to chaperon my nieces school dance and straight couples were dancing pretty nasty, but this lesbian couple gets off the bench and does the same, and they were made to leave the dance. I brought this to the school principals attention and he brushed it off as if it were nothing. So, that goes to show how unfair schools are.

 

[sdedalus]

I think all schools are just about the same. The punishment for a gay or lesbian couple kissing is worse than if it were a straight couple kissing. But these girls have some balls. If I were them, I would stand out in the road beside the school off of school property and kiss all day just to piss people off even more.
A few weeks ago, I went to chaperon my nieces school dance and straight couples were dancing pretty nasty, but this lesbian couple gets off the bench and does the same, and they were made to leave the dance. I brought this to the school principals attention and he brushed it off as if it were nothing. So, that goes to show how unfair schools are.

The problem is.. there are no protections in schools. If you're under 18 your rights are extremely limited. Schools get away with so much of this kind of thing by sighting it as disruptive behavior. It's good that they opened that GLBT school in New York to avoid some of this madness. When is the world going to wake up... I hope it's in my lifetime.

SD

 

[Etoile]

The problem is.. there are no protections in schools. If you're under 18 your rights are extremely limited. Schools get away with so much of this kind of thing by sighting it as disruptive behavior. It's good that they opened that GLBT school in New York to avoid some of this madness. When is the world going to wake up... I hope it's in my lifetime.

Yes, but there are high school seniors who are over 18. Many kids graduate at age 18.

citing it
now that I know you're an English major too, I'm going to hound you!

 

[sdedalus]

Yes, but there are high school seniors who are over 18. Many kids graduate at age 18.

Yea but that doesn't really do THAT much for them.


sighting is how we spell it, kind of like ebonics, it's the new slang spelling

 

[sexylilmissie]

i have to say that society today is falling apart

these same schools are teaching our kids that any time they get into trouble this is a form of abuse, even if they did something that merited punnishment and all they get is a talking to about it

unfortunatly incidents like this are becoming more prevalent and it is very sad to see

 

[Etoile]

sighting is how we spell it, kind of like ebonics, it's the new slang spelling

Pfffft. I don't believe you.

 

[simonedb27]

oh stop it you two

 

[Pookie]

Here's an article I just saw at cnn.com

Female-student kiss spurs debate at school

Thursday, November 20, 2003 Posted: 12:12 PM EST (1712 GMT)


CLARKSVILLE, Maryland (AP) -- Inspired by a high school assignment, Stephanie Haaser leaped onto a cafeteria table, shouted "End homophobia now!" and kissed classmate Katherine Pecore.

Haaser said she was making a statement on behalf of gay and lesbian students because she was bothered by the verbal and physical harassment they face.

Their principal said he respected what the heterosexual students were trying to do, but they needed to learn more appropriate ways to make a point. Haaser and Pecore were suspended for two days.

"It's highly inappropriate to stand on a table in the cafeteria and make out, whether the kiss was heterosexual or homosexual," said River Hill High School principal Scott Pfeifer. "I don't think there's a school in the country where parents would consider that appropriate behavior."

Haaser, a junior, said she chose to make the statement as part of an English class assignment, which required that she engage in a nonconformist act in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"You hear derogatory comments in virtually every class," Haaser said. "It's not always spiteful -- someone might say, 'Oh that's so gay,' where 'gay' means stupid or dumb. But those comments can be really hurtful."

Haaser said teachers who hear such remarks rarely intervene.

River Hill administrators said they pride themselves on the school's respect for diversity. Pfeifer said the school has a Gay-Straight Alliance club and a diversity committee of students, teachers and parents. The school recently celebrated National Coming Out Day.

"I wouldn't put up River Hill as a national model," Pfeifer said, "but I would say we are as sensitive about these issues as anyone."


Raising awareness

The incident has sparked debate about tolerance at the school.

A few days after the kiss, juniors Mia Freyer and Anna Boyland staged a brief protest outside the school on behalf of the suspended students. They carried signs that read "Down with Homophobia" and "Don't: Hate and discriminate."

Joshua Lamont, a spokesman for the national Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, said there are just under 2,000 gay-straight alliance clubs at high schools and the number of clubs grew by 50 percent in the past year.

But there has been a growth of intolerance, as well, Lamont said. An annual survey of high school students found that more than 90 percent reported hearing homophobic remarks last year and more than 82 percent reported teachers heard the remarks but did nothing about them, Lamont said.

A third of the students who identified themselves as gay in the survey reported skipping school for fear of verbal or physical harassment.

"I fear harassment is the rule rather than the exception," Lamont said.

Eileen Woodbury, a special assistant to Howard County school superintendent John O'Rourke, said county school officials plan to strengthen staff development on diversity issues.

"I don't doubt that it happens in our schools as well and we're deeply concerned about the professional response," she said.

Haaser said the kiss has raised awareness of the problem.

"It's been wonderful to see and hear the discussions that have taken place at my school since the kiss. People are a lot more aware of the issue," she said. "And I like to think the hurtful, derogatory comments about gays have subsided, at least for a little while."

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/11/20/kiss.suspension.ap/index.html

Stephanie Haaser
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/EDUCATION/11/20/kiss.suspension.ap/vert.haaser.ap.jpg

 

[Etoile]

This is interesting to me because it's right by where I grew up. I can picture the school building perfectly, along with the road outside it. The principal is even in one of my high school yearbooks!

 

[fallon2]

Suspended

Somebody said earlier that they were expelled but only suspended. I think their puposely kissing did cause a disturbance or disruption and they deserved to be suspended.
The following is also true. a boy lost a bet with his girl. He lost and had to come to school dressed as a girl. The principal met him at the door and told him to change. He agreed but at lunch put on the girl's dress, wig etc. Several boys jumped him in the cafeteria and all three were suspended. He cannot be allowed to disturb or disrupt (as I call it) the educational process. JMO

 

[simonedb27]

Re: Suspended

Somebody said earlier that they were expelled but only suspended. I think their puposely kissing did cause a disturbance or disruption and they deserved to be suspended.
The following is also true. a boy lost a bet with his girl. He lost and had to come to school dressed as a girl. The principal met him at the door and told him to change. He agreed but at lunch put on the girl's dress, wig etc. Several boys jumped him in the cafeteria and all three were suspended. He cannot be allowed to disturb or disrupt (as I call it) the educational process. JMO

the way you have described it (loosing a bet) i think is disruptive and should be discouraged; however, no one ever deserves to be beaten up. and what about truly transgendered folks? if such a person were to dress as a girl one day but had a male-ish name, would that still be disruptive? i think it might cause a disruption, but this circumstance would not warrant suspension because that person is transgendered.

 

[Etoile]

I think in most cases a transgendered student would have discussed their situation with their guidance counselor and/or school administration, so it's unlikely they would be targeted as having deliberately caused a commotion just for commotion's sake.

 

[simonedb27]

I think in most cases a transgendered student would have discussed their situation with their guidance counselor and/or school administration, so it's unlikely they would be targeted as having deliberately caused a commotion just for commotion's sake.

that is what i was trying to distinguish. thanks for the help!

 

[TaoistWanderer]

An interesting parallel

I think that it is interesting that in the case of the two suspended high-school girls, the CNN article noted that they were fulfilling a class assignment to perform a non-conformist act in the tradition of Emerson and Thoreau. Thoreau himself was jailed (albeit for one night) for refusing to pay his poll-tax. But that night in jail served to inspire his now-famous essay "On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience", which would itself inspire such noted non-conformists as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

One hopes that, perhaps, out of this "night in jail" (in the form of a two-day suspension) something similarly inspiring may be produced....

 

[Etoile]

One of the girls is losing her membership in the National Honor Society because of this suspension - NHS membership requires a spotless academic record. I can't help wondering how the NHS board of directors (or whoever's in charge there) feels about this suspension, considering both the act itself and their reasons for doing it. I doubt they'll make an exception, because then they'll have tons of appeals, but it would be interesting to know how they feel about it.