Friday, June 15, 2012

A Fifth-Grader was told that his Speech on Marriage Equality is Inappropriate


Fifth-grader Kameron Slade was excited to give his award winning speech on gay marriage during a school-wide contest.

However, the principal believes the topic is inappropriate. Kameron's mother was highly upset about this decision:

"For him to be denied the right to voice his opinion really upsets me," she said."I was really looking forward to it," Kameron said. "I thought that this was a real good winning speech for tomorrow."
Kameron's mother said he was told to choose any topic, so he chose same-sex marriage. But on Wednesday, the principal said he should write another speech or be removed from the contest. "She said that people have different opinions on it and that some parents may not want their children to learn about this type of topic," Kameron said.

Kameron's speech calls for acceptance and tolerance. It describes his mother's explanation of the issue and his impression of his mother's friends who are gay.
"They seemed happy," he said. "Best of all, they seemed to love each other. The only difference was that there were two moms instead of a mother and a father." 

"It’s on the news," his mother said. "It’s a part our lives now. They need to open up. The New York City Department of Education need to open up."

The New York City Department of Education told NY1 Thursday night that Kameron will be permitted to give the speech Monday in some sort of a different assembly. They did not comment on the principal's decision.
Here is the speech via Think Progress

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.