I'm offended that people are insisting 'gay' means 'homosexual.'
Posted on 02/11/2005 2:28:14 PM PST by swilhelm73
SWANSEA -- Case High School sophomore Chris Carreiro says he and his friends often use the word "gay" as a synonym for "stupid" or "lame."
"I have to say, I use it a lot," he says. "All my friends do ... I do see where gay people could get offended by it, but there's no ... homosexual thing implied."
Carreiro says he never gave the word much thought, until recently. Now, he says, his use of the word has earned him a one-day suspension from school. He claims that when he told a guidance counselor that a teacher was "being gay," he was written up for using profanity.
The 16-year-old, who works as an intern at WSAR 1480 AM, publicly aired his grievance with the school in an interview broadcast last night, after his forced day off from school. The interview resulted in a barrage of calls to the station.
But Schools Supt. Stephan C. Flanagan, who was reached at home last night, said if Carreiro is saying he was suspended simply for using the word "gay," he isn't giving the whole story.
"It was more than that," he said.
Flanagan said he can't elaborate on the causes behind Carreiro's suspension because of rules that protect students' rights.
"The frustrating part is that it's tough for us to tell the full version of events, because we have to protect his confidentiality," Flanagan said. "We still have to respect that he's a minor and that we have to protect him."
Carreiro says his troubles began when he was late to a computer class.
"I was helping a friend with his books, and I was about 30 seconds to a minute late," he says. When he arrived, he says, his teacher sent him to the guidance office for tardiness.
There was only one guidance counselor in the office, who asked him why he was there, Carreiro says.
"I told him [the teacher] was acting gay, or he was being gay or something. I don't remember exactly," Carreiro says. "But there's a difference between saying that and saying he's gay."
Carreiro says he meant the word to mean that the teacher was being stupid or moody, rather than calling his sexuality into question. But he says the guidance counselor began yelling at him, and dismissed him.
He later found out that he'd been written up for using profanity, and would be suspended for a day. Carreiro says he tried to appeal the suspension, but was denied.
"I've never been disciplined in my life," he says. "I was president of my class last year, and my grades are pretty good."
He says he doesn't believe that he used profanity, and besides, "I thought I could say anything with a guidance counselor."
"I'm going to have this on my transcript," he says.
Both Flanagan and Case Principal Brian McCann, who was also reached at home last night, said Carreiro wasn't presenting the full version of events, but that they couldn't comment on student discipline.
McCann said Carreiro's punishment was handed down along parameters outlined in the student handbook.
"It absolutely was reviewed," he said. "The suspension was more than appropriate for what happened."
Getting suspended for this is totally gay....
If the kid confessed to the counselor that he was gay himself I bet the counselor wouldn't have freaked.
I'm offended that people are insisting 'gay' means 'homosexual.'
How gay.
Dope = Great
Stupid = Great
Gay = Dumb
Wait a minute, I thought it was okay to be gay. Why get upset about it?
(I hear this usage CONSTANTLY from kids. They're taking all that diversity to heart!)
So teachers can be anti-American and call it free speech, but call them queer and your a racist.
The kid should have said the teacher was acting queer....
He could always have used the term "RUMP RANGER" instead.
guess you can't use the word "homo" in biology class anymore either............Hmmmmmmmm
The student should be suspended for calling the teacher stupid or lame as well.
Ward Churchill can give propaganda support to the worst enemy America ever had and that's "free speech", but if a kid accidently veers into politically incorrect speech by a casual turn of phrase, that's cause for disciplinary action.
Whoever suspended this kid is a run-of-the-mill spineless scumsucker, crawling along the public-trough bottoms, sucking up taxpayer funds and polluting the public waters with his feces.
Dude, that is so totally gay!
As a HS teacher of 30 years I know how teens use the word "gay". It's not so much "stupid" as "lame" or "weak." As in "making us sing the alma mater is gay."
I suspect that the guidance counselor was gay or else he/she wouldn't have yelled at the kid. Interesting that the GC considered the word to be profanity.
If they think the word 'gay' is profanity, one hour around me would put them in ICU.
The term "homophone" is verboten in English class as is the term "phagocyte" (i.e., any cell that ingests foreign matarial) in Bio....
Wasn't Gay Happy before it was homogonized?
What if your a Gay Fairy?
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