Kentucky School Bars Gay Students from Bathrooms?

Note: I’m still digging on this story. Follow me on Twitter to keep up with new info as I get it.

The tremendous Pam Spaulding writes at Pandagon about an administrator at a Kentucky high school who allegedly told teachers to prohibit gay and lesbian students from leaving class to use school bathrooms after two female students were caught kissing in the girls’ restroom.

What she doesn’t mention, though, is that fifteen students held a public protest against the ban in front of the school on Friday.

I’m repulsed by the administrator’s actions here, of course, if the story is true. But I also find it fascinating that high school administrators in Franklin County, Kentucky would assume that teachers would know who their gay and lesbian students were.

And I’m thrilled that these students — gay, straight, both, or neither — were willing to stand up publicly against such nonsense.

1:00 pm update: I’ve found an article on the incident from the Frankfort, Kentucky State Journal. In it, the principal of Franklin County High School says “we would never send out an e-mail that had anything to do with sexual orientations,” which is almost, but not quite, a denial that such an email actually was sent. Assistant principal Karen Buzard, who allegedly sent the email, was unavailable for comment.

The State Journal article also included the above photo from the protest, along with some new details — the protesting students painted “Gay Pride” and rainbows on their faces, and held signs that said  “Honk if you’re gay” and “We have a right to pee.” 

3:00 pm update: Several anonymous commenters at the State Journal website claim that Buzard’s email restricted the bathroom privileges of specific students, not all gays and lesbians. I have reached out to school officials for comment, but have not yet had a response.

It’s also worth mentioning that if school officials did restrict bathroom privileges of gays and lesbians as a group, what they did is likely legal, as Kentucky has no LGBT civil rights law.

May 4 update: I’ve just received an email from Harrie Buecker, superintendent of the Franklin County Public School system. She says the district is “continuing our investigation” of the email incident. More as I get it.

May 5 update: The principal of Franklin County High School has posted a statement on the school’s website saying that no email was ever sent “barring any specific group of students from using the restrooms.” According to the statement, teachers were told that “certain students should not be allowed to leave the classroom during class because they had been in violation of school rules,” but “all students have time between classes to use the facilities.”