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7-Year Old is Scolded at School about His Lesbian Mothers

Compiled by GayToday
American Civil Liberties Union

Ernest Gallet Elementary School in Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette, Louisiana - 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 demanded yesterday 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 on November 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 who is handling the matter. "At the ACLU we often deal with schools that mistreat treat 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." The two behavioral contract forms can be viewed online at:

http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=14478&c=104 and http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=14480&c=104 .

"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 demanded 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.

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