I have heard some pretty crazy excuses from backward school officials in my day, but here's a new one. Kids from a Colorado high school say they were told they couldn't include a photo of lesbian students holding hands in their yearbook because their advisor was anti-gay. So how did the school try to clean that up and make it palatable for the media? It was excessive PDA.
Excessive. Because two girls were holding ... hands? Holy grilled cheesus. Can you imagine what they'll do next? Maybe a few sly glances across the cafeteria? Or, OMG, maybe one of them will give the other one their pin. What a scandal!
Snort.
Apparently someone hasn't actually walked through a high school lately if they think that's excessive. I have. And it doesn't exactly make me feel ready for my daughter's teen years. I'd love a few pictures of happy kids -- of any gender -- holding hands to show her as a "what TO do."
The kids from Palmer High say they were kicked off the yearbook committee after building a page that was meant to chronicle "relationships" at the school. When they presented it to their advisor, former yearbook staffer Rudolpho Tribulio says they were told, "you either cut the gay couple or I cut the page." The claim that the problem was excessive PDA came after the fact, from a school scrambling to defend an act that sounds like blatant discrimination.
The way a school spokesperson told it: "If there's too much PDA, it's against policy. It's going to get cut."
Uh huh. So much for a "yearbook" that reflects the lives of the kids at the school (gay and straight). Maybe they ought to just order some stock photos of kids who fit their perfect picture and be done with the whole thing.
Or they could celebrate the good things in their community. Just a thought. You know -- lesbian girls who are happy and accepted by their peers (who were cool enough with them to ensure they were also represented in their yearbook)? Kids who are using age-appropriate, publicly accepted forms of affection instead of groping one another beneath the bleachers?
What's an acceptable level of PDA for teenagers? Would you be upset if your kid were holding hands?
Image via Vinni123/Flickr