WATCH ABOVE: The teen says he couldn’t deliver his speech to the graduating class because he planned to announce that he is gay. As Shaun Boyd reports, the school’s side of the story is much different.
TORONTO – A high school student in Longmont, Colorado, was silenced by the school principal just before the 18-year-old was set to deliver a valedictorian speech and publicly come out as gay.
Evan Young was barred from delivering his valedictorian speech at Twin Peaks Charter Academy High School last month because he refused to edit out the part of his speech where he planned to disclose his sexuality.
According to CBS, Young submitted a rough draft of his speech to school officials and received several suggested edits.
After refusing to make some of the revisions, principal BJ Buchmann called the student’s parents and told them their son is gay.
“Mr. Bachmann outed Evan to us, which was not the way Evan wanted it to happen,” said Alise Curry, Young’s mother, at a press conference.
Curry said it was just minutes before the graduation ceremony started when Young was informed he will not be speaking.
“When we got to the part of the ceremony where in the program it said it was time for his speech, there was just silence, there was no acknowledgement of his accomplishments,” Young’s mother said.
A statement from the school described Young’s speech as inappropriate.
“The Valedictorian failed to follow the guidelines established by the school. The initial draft of the student’s speech submitted for review was condescending toward the school and the student’s peers and included, among other things, ridiculing comments about faculty and students,” it read. “The draft speech also included references to personal matters of a sexual nature. None of these topics are ever appropriate for a speech at a graduation ceremony.”
On Sunday, Young, who graduated with a 4.5 GPA, was able to deliver his speech and come out as gay in front of a large group of friends and family thanks to Out Boulder, a gay rights group in Colorado.
Comments