LAFAYETTE, LA—After a 7-year-old boy was scolded in front of his classmates and
sent to a school behavioral clinic for answering another child's questions about his
lesbian mothers, the American Civil Liberties Union last week demanded that the
school expunge the boy's disciplinary records and stop restricting him from talking
about his family with other students.
'I was concerned when the assistant principal called and told me my son had said
a word so bad that he didn't want to repeat it over the phone,' said Sharon Huff, the
second-grader's mother.
She added, 'But that was nothing compared to the shock I felt when my little boy
came home and told me that his teacher had told him his family is a dirty word. No
child should ever hear that, especially not from a teacher he trusted and respected.'
Marcus McLaurin was waiting in line to go to recess Nov. 11 at Ernest Gallet
Elementary School when a classmate asked him about his mother and father.
He responded that he didn't have a mother and father; instead he has two mothers.
When the other child asked why, Marcus told him that it was because his mother is
gay.
The other child then asked what that meant, and Marcus explained, 'Gay is when a
girl likes another girl.'
Upon hearing this, Marcus's teacher scolded him in front of his classmates, telling
him that 'gay' is a bad word and he should never say it at school, then sent him to
the principal's office instead of letting him go to recess.
The following week the school required Marcus to attend a special behavioral clinic
at 6:45 in the morning, where he was forced to repeatedly write 'I will never use the
word 'gay' in school again.'
'To tell a 7-year-old boy that he can't talk about his family not only makes that child
feel confused and hurt—it violates his Constitutional right to free speech and equal
treatment,' said Ken Choe, a staff attorney from the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights
Project. 'At the ACLU we often deal with schools that mistreat gay children and
children who have gay parents, but this is beyond the pale.'
On a student behavior contract form that Marcus had to fill out and give to his mother
about the incident, Marcus wrote that the thing he did wrong was that he 'sed bad
wurds.' A handwritten note at the top of the form from Marcus's teacher further
explains: 'He explained to another child that you are gay and what being gay
means.'
On a behavior report form signed by the assistant principal, the teacher wrote,
'Marcus decided to explain to another child in his group that his mom is gay. He told
the other child that gay is when a girl likes a girl. This kind of discussion is not
acceptable in my room. I feel that parents should explain things of this nature to their
own children in their own way.'
'Of course we believe that parents should be the ones who talk with small children
about things like sex, but Marcus McLaurin's school seems to think that he was
talking about sex when all he was talking about was his two mothers,' said Joe
Cook, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana. 'The fact is that there are children
of lesbian and gay parents in schools throughout Louisiana, and those children
have the same right as any other children to talk about their families.'
In its letter to the principal of Ernest Gallet Elementary School, the ACLU Lesbian
and Gay Rights Project and the ACLU of Louisiana demand that the school remove
all mentions of the incident from Marcus's disciplinary record and refrain from
restricting his speech in the future, and offer apologies to Marcus and his mother.
The Family Pride Coalition condemned the actions. 'We join with the ACLU in
calling for Marcus's disciplinary records to be expunged and that school officials
cease in their effort to restrict him from talking about his family,' said Aimee Gelnaw,
executive director of the Family Pride Coalition. 'We know that children flourish in
classrooms and schools where they feel safe and their families are welcome. We
offer the Family Pride Coalition as a resource to the administrators at the Ernest
Gallet Elementary School to build the resources to better manage these natural
occurrences within the school. All children deserve to feel protected and respected
in their own schools.'
Appeals Court to Hear Woman's Case Against Harrah's Casino
A federal appeals court was expected to hear arguments last week in the case of a
Reno woman who was fired from her job of 21 years as a bartender at Harrah's
Casino for not adhering to rigid sex stereotypes in the company's new dress code.
Lambda Legal, as co-counsel for the woman, is arguing that women and men
should be treated equally in the workplace and that employers cannot have policies
forcing employees to fit extreme gender stereotypes.
In August 2000, Darlene Jespersen was fired from her position as a bartender at
Harrah's after the company enacted a new dress code, called the 'Personal Best'
program, requiring all women in the beverage department to wear makeup,
specified as foundation or powder, blush, lipstick and mascara, applied precisely
the same way every day to match a photograph held by the supervisor. The only
requirement for men is that they not wear any makeup of any kind.
Jespersen's work had been excellent for two full decades, but she was fired once
she failed to conform to the company's rigid and outdated sex stereotypes, Lambda
Legal said. 'This is a classic sex discrimination case. 'Harrah's fired Darlene
because she wouldn't adhere to the most extreme stereotypes of women,' said
Jennifer C. Pizer, senior staff attorney in Lambda Legal's Western Regional Office.
