Tenn. Principal Allegedly Assaults Student Wearing Gay T-Shirt

Rights watchdogs organizations have responded to an alleged incident in which a high school principal reportedly assaulted and verbally harassed a student for wearing a gay-supportive T-shirt.

The ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign have both reacted to incidents in Monroe County, Tennessee, arising from students at a high school working to establish a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA).

The alleged assault took place in late September at Sequoyah High School. An Oct. 4 ACLU press release said that the student, a 17-year-old senior, "was reportedly shoved, bumped in the chest and verbally harassed by his principal last week for wearing a T-shirt in support of efforts to establish a gay-straight alliance (GSA) club on campus."

Previous to the alleged assault the principal, Maurice Moser, had allegedly warned other students that continued efforts to establish the GSA would result in their suspensions. Students gathering signatures on two petitions, one in favor of the GSA and one opposed, were all told to stop or face disciplinary action.

The student who Moser allegedly assaulted, Chris Sigler, had written the motto "GSA: We've Got Your Back" on a T-shirt he wore to school. The first day he wore the shirt, Sigler was ordered by a teacher to cover the message. But Sigler wore the shirt again later in the week because it was his understanding that he had a First Amendment right to do so.

When Sigler refused to cover the shirt's slogan, "Moser then ordered all students out of the classroom, except for Sigler's sister Jessica, who refused to leave," the ACLU reported Sigler claiming.

"According to both students, Moser then grabbed Sigler's arm, shoved him, and chest-bumped him repeatedly while asking, 'Who's the big man now?' Sigler's mother reported that when she arrived at the school, she saw her son seated in a desk with Moser leaning over him and shouting in Sigler's face. The Siglers filed a report about the incident that afternoon with the Monroe County Sheriff's Department."

"It is totally unacceptable that a young man who was peacefully exercising his First Amendment rights would have his speech shut down by the public school principal," the head of the ACLU's Tennessee chapter, Hedy Weinberg, said, going on to say that the "incident clearly illustrates the hostile environment LGBT students face at Sequoyah High School.

"Given this context, it's especially important that supportive voices like Sigler's can be heard in order to overcome the school's resistance to a GSA," added Weinberg.

Sigler agreed.

"All I want is to have a GSA at my school to help stop the bullying against gays and lesbians and their friends who support them," the young man said. "The shirt was a way to use my voice and show my support for the club. The way I was treated shows even more why we need a GSA here."

Sigler is heterosexual, ABC News reported. His sister is bisexual. The ABC News article reported on Sigler's intentions, saying that he told his mother, "I don't want to go to a funeral of any friends."

One openly gay student, Nathan Carroll, told the media that he and other gay students were bullied. He described how the school's athletes would scream out religiously-based anti-gay slurs, and said that those opposed to the GSA attempted to characterize it in a misleading way.

"The Gay Straight Alliance is not a club to talk about sexual orientation," Carroll told the local media. "It's about sexual orientation, but it's not talking about sex in general. It's a support group. It's where you can go and you can talk about how you feel."

The Human Rights Campaign said in an Oct. 19 media release that the students were not the only ones subjected to bullying at the school, reporting that "fair-minded faculty members originally willing to sponsor the group's formation have been intimidated into silence."

"The reports of homophobia in Monroe County, Tennessee, are shocking," the head of the HRC, Joe Solmonese, said. "Students should feel safe in their schools.

"For a principal allegedly to assault a student who is defending the rights of his LGBT peers is not only irresponsible and dangerous, but a complete dereliction of his leadership obligations. And faculty members willing to sponsor a GSA should feel free to do so without threat of any kind of retribution from those above them."

"The formation and operation of GSAs are protected under the Federal Equal Access Act of 1984," the release noted, before adding, "Law enforcement officials in Madisonville say no charges are likely to be filed in the alleged assault."

The refusal of the Monroe Country Sheriff's Department to look thoroughly at the incident stands in contrast to the 80,000 people who signed an online petition calling for a full investigation, according to an Oct. 10 Change.org article.

"The campaign's growing popularity is likely to escalate pressure on the Monroe County Sheriff's Department to fully investigate Principal Moser's alleged assault," the article said.

"So far the Sheriff's Department has refused to interview Chris Sigler's sister, who witnessed the incident, or his mother, who witnessed Principal Moser screaming at her son after he wore the homemade T-shirt.

The Need for GSAs

"Gay-straight alliances in schools play a central role in facilitating safe and welcoming environments for LGBT students," the HRC release continued. "They also provide opportunities to educate straight allies on the dangers of homophobia and transphobia, and the serious implications harassment and discrimination present to LGBT Americans--particularly youth.

According to research conducted by the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a national GLBT youth advocacy group that supports GSAs, nine out of ten GLBT youths endure harassment and bullying, "and nearly two-thirds felt unsafe because of their sexual orientation. Nearly a third of LGBT students skipped at least one day of school in the past month because of safety concerns."

The group's research found that some forms of harassment had declined, while more serious trends in bullying remained the same.

"An analysis of National School Climate Survey data over 10 years showed that since 1999 there has been a decreasing trend in the frequency of
hearing homophobic remarks; however, LGBT students' experiences with more severe forms of bullying and harassment have remained relatively constant," GLSEN's "2009 National School Climate Survey" reported.

But GLBT youth in Tennessee are unlikely to find any relief from their elected representatives.

"Earlier this year, Tennessee was in the spotlight for proposed "Don't Say Gay" legislation--which would ban any and all discussion of or materials in Tennessee elementary and middle schools related to homosexuality," the HRC release noted.

The "Don't Say Gay" bill, championed by anti-gay state lawmaker Stacey Campfield, would bar any reference to sexual minorities in public schools until students reach the ninth grade. Opponents to the bill worry that students, who hear anti-gay epithets and erroneous information concerning gays long before they reach the ninth grade, will be impacted by such a ban on speech in the classroom, especially GLBT youth.

But Campfield justifies the bill, saying that students should not hear about gays at school in elementary school because "homosexuals don't naturally reproduce," the Associated Press reported on May 20.

The bill's text states that classroom discussions touching upon sexuality will be "limited exclusively to age-appropriate natural human reproduction science." The bill does not seem to make any provision for discussions of same-sex families, and advocates for gay youth worry about the effect on the emotional health of young GLBTs in an environment where homophobic messages are prevented by law from being countered.

The measure passed the Tennessee state senate on May 20 with a vote of 19-11. The chamber's approval of the controversial measure is a long-sought victory for Campfield, proposed the measure for six years running during his tenure as a state representative. However, the bill is not currently slated to be taken up by the state house of representatives, and may well languish.

The bill allows teachers to discuss heterosexuality in the classroom with younger students.

"Such a bill could derail any potential lessons on anti-gay bullying," noted GLBT blog JoeMyGod in an April 21 posting on the bill.

"As introduced, the bill requires that 'no public elementary or middle school shall provide any instruction or material that discusses sexual orientation other than heterosexuality,' " noted a posting at petition site Change.org.

"This bill would tie the hands of school counselors, school psychologists, teachers, principals and other school employees in protecting our children," the posting continued. "If a child is experiencing issues relating to their sexual orientation or identity, they would be unable to discuss those issues with the adults who are supervising and teaching them. Early detection of the signs of depression can help prevent suicides among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth."

"Bullying is escalating both on and off school grounds, locally and nationally," the text added. "Many of these incidents involve real and perceived sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. 'Don't Say Gay' would jeopardize the safety and well-being of students."

The site gathered 6,441 signatures on a petition to stop the bill before the petition expired.

"Consider what effects this bill could have if it becomes law: teachers could be prohibited from even mentioning the fact that lesbian, gay, and bisexual people exist," the text went on. "It is quite possible that school libraries would fail to comply with the law if their shelves contained books with lesbian, gay, or bisexual characters."

The leader of the Tennessee Equality Project expressed similar concerns, reported the Huffington Post on April 22.

"It means [teachers] can't talk about gay issues or sexuality even with students who may be gay or have [a] gay family," said spokesperson Ben Byers.