This just in: Edwin Yoder, principal of Woodlan High School in Woodburn, says discussion of homosexuality is inappropriate at the high school level, and has demanded full editorial control over the school's newspaper.
The reason for his overreaction? An editorial, written by a high school sophomore, that of all things urged tolerance of homosexuals.
"I can only imagine how hard it would be to come out as homosexual in today's society," Megan Chase wrote. "I think it is so wrong to look down on those people, or to make fun of them, just because they have a different sexuality than you. There is nothing wrong with them or their brain; they're just different than you."
Woodlan's assistant superintendent, Andy Mellin, suggests the topic of the article wasn't the problem. "It's the content of the article in terms of its ... appropriateness and balance," he told the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
Balance?
"Being homosexual doesn't make a person inhuman," wrote Chase. "It makes them just a little bit different than the rest of the world. And for living in a society that tells you to always be yourself, it's a hard price to pay."
The problem with that argument is in its appropriateness and balance?
No, this is a matter of student press freedom in an age where principals only need to cry "inappropriate!" and they'll be granted full control to silence a student for speaking her mind.
Yoder has attempted to shield himself behind Hazelwood, the 1988 Supreme Court decision which ruled a school's officials had the right to censor stories about teen pregnancy and divorce in a high school paper. But, according to Adam Goldstein, attorney at the Student Press Law Center, school officials in the Hazelwood case were able to prove the articles went against what was being taught in the classroom.
"If students are not being taught tolerance in the classroom, the problem is much larger than this particular incident," says Goldman.
Indeed.
When did it become wrong for a student in the 10th grade to write an editorial supporting the rights of a minority group? I'm aware that the Supreme Court has heavily limited free speech rights for high school journalists, but isn't it time we question whether they should?
Megan Chase wrote a well-meaning editorial suggesting we treat homosexuals with a little dignity. Tell her that's wrong and you might as well silence whatever spark of integrity our education system has left.
We live in an age where our state constitutions are being destroyed by the anti-homosexual agenda. As voters are given the chance to legalize bigotry, the second-class status of homosexuals in our society becomes official. We're passing hypocritical "hate crime laws" making murder worse if it's committed against a minority, yet we perpetuate hate crimes on them through these constitutional amendments.
Former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas once said the First Amendment makes confidence in the common sense of the people and in the maturity of their judgment the great postulate of our democracy.
If students are old enough to read a newspaper, they're old enough to read a reasonable editorial urging tolerance and acceptance.
To say otherwise undermines every ideal this nation was built upon.
Jonathan Sanders is a senior journalism major and writes 'Turning a Blind Eye' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Jonathan at jonathansanders@justice.com.
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