Shocked Christian boy, 14, 'sent out of class and suspended for telling friend being gay is wrong' (video)

Shocked Christian boy, 14, 'sent out of class and suspended for telling friend being gay is wrong'

Student Suspended for Saying Gay Is Wrong: MyFoxDFW.com

By Mark Duell
Last updated at 6:41 PM on 23rd September 2011

A 14-year-old Christian student was sent to his principal’s office and suspended for telling a classmate that being gay is wrong.

Dakota Ary, of Fort Worth, Texas, was overheard giving his opinion to a friend during a ninth-grade German class discussion.

The Western Hills High School student is a ‘very well-grounded’ teenager who volunteers at his church, his shocked mother said.



A class discussion turned to religion and homosexuality in Germany when the Christian boy told a friend that ‘being a homosexual is wrong’.

‘It wasn’t directed to anyone except my friend who was sitting behind me,’ he told Fox News. ‘I guess (the teacher) heard me.’

Dakota said his teacher started ‘yelling’ and sent him to the principal’s office, where he was given two days of full suspension.

‘He’s been in church his whole life and he’s been taught to stand up for what he believes,’ Dakota’s furious mother Holly Pope told Fox News.



But when Ms Pope got her lawyer involved, the school decided against the suspension so he could play in a forthcoming football match.

‘They’ve righted all the wrongs,’ lawyer Matt Krause told Fox News. ‘This should have no lasting effect on his academic or personal record going forward.’

Mr Krause said the principal is ‘doing the right thing’ but Dakota should never have been suspended as it breached his Constitutional rights.

Ms Pope added that her son was not disruptive, threatening or hostile - and he never suggested he had anything against gay people.



Dakota will return to the teacher’s classroom and has been told to respect him ‘what his beliefs are or what they are not’, she added.

A Fort Worth Independent School District spokesman told Fox News it does not comment on specific employee or student issues.

‘We are following district policy in our review of the circumstances and any resolution will likewise be in accordance with district policy,' he added.

Alan Smithee wrote:It was wrong that he was singled out and suspended like that. I disagree with his opinion but he's entitled to it.

New Details Call 'Homosexuality Is Wrong' Student's Story Into Question

Texas teen Dakota Ary became a conservative super star when it was revealed last week that he had been suspended from school for telling his class, "I'm a Christian and, to me, being homosexual is wrong."

With the help of right wing defense team at Liberty Counsel, 14-year old Ary was able to get his three-day suspension reduce to one single day, and cleared his permanent record of the incident. He also helped ignite a national conversation about whether the student should have been reprimanded or if he was simply exercising his Freedom of Speech.

Even though he was spouting intolerance, many people, right and left alike, agreed Ary had been wronged. As new details emerge, however, it's starting to look as if Ary's remarks were less about the First Amendment and more about challenging his teacher.

Marvin Vann, head of a local anti-bullying group called LGBTQ S.A.V.E.S., recently spoke with Ary's teacher, Kristopher Franks, to get his side of the story, a side that calls Ary's telling into question. According to Franks, Ary and his pals have a history of homophobic remarks and actions. Vann's take, via the Dallas Voice:

These students subsequently took every opportunity to denounce homosexuality in class, frequently without context; that is, with the topic having otherwise been broached.

On the particular day in which this incident occurred, Mr. Franks was opening class when the topic of Christianity in Germany was broached by one student, who asked what churches were there, another whether they read the Bible in English, etc. Franks asserts that the topic of homosexuality was not broached in any way, and that Ary‘s assertions to the contrary are entirely false. At this point, Ary declared, with a class audience, “Gays can’t be Christians; homosexuality is wrong,” looking directly at Mr. Franks.

Franks says he understands and affirms students’ right to free speech, and that he is perfectly prepared to lead a respectful discussion on topics such as gay rights that allows for the assertion of opinions with which he disagrees. He has led such discussion in the past in his sociology classes. But in this case, hr feels the context makes it clear that this remark was made ad hominem, aimed specifically at him to devalue him and any information he might share on the topic of religion, on the basis of his perceived sexual orientation.

If Franks' telling is true, Ary's comments cross from free speech to verbal intimidation, which is a whole new ball game.
The Dallas Voice will have more details on this story in their Friday edition.

Until then, the rest of us are left to wonder what actually went on in that classroom...

Posted 1:25 PM EST by Andrew Belonsky in Discrimination, Education, News, Texas

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2011/09/new-details-call-homosexuality-is-wrong-students-story-into-question.html#ixzz1ZRykfa00