A New Jersey mayor is calling for an investigation after a group of public school teachers were caught making homophobic comments in a chat shared during a Zoom class.
In a group chat on Nov. 25, teachers from Dumont High School in Dumont, N.J., made disparaging comments about one of their co-workers.
“Why is that kid with the gay gym teacher?” one asked, according to a screenshot of the chat that was captured by a student and shared with NJ Advance Media.
“Is that her adopted kid? Who is gonna be all fucked up growing up watching 2 chicks kissing and calling them both mom,” said another.
Dumont Mayor Andrew LaBruno condemned the disparaging comments, saying in a Facebook post that the comments were ‘disturbing and extremely appalling” and calling on Superintendent Emanuele Triggiano to investigate the matter.
LaBruno said in the post that after speaking to Triggiano, the superintendent assured him that the incident “is being taken seriously and will be thoroughly investigated.”
“These homophobic comments do not reflect our community’s values, nor do they represent our beliefs in the Borough of Dumont,” LaBruno said in the post. “We are an inclusive and welcoming community. We were the first mayor and Council to raise the Pride flag in support of our neighbors in the LGBTQ community.
“While there is still much work to be done fighting against inequalities and standing up for human rights, our educators mold our children’s minds, and these comments have no place in our education system,” he added. “Dumont is one big family, and together we must ensure that all of our neighbors know that hate has no home here.”
The incident has sparked outrage among some in the community, who began circulating a Change.org petition calling for the teachers involved in the group chat to be fired. The petition has garnered more than 21,000 signatures as of publication time.
“This behavior is unacceptable and should not be tolerated by the school district or its employees, and should result in their forced resignations immediately,” the petition reads.
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into civil rights violations and poor conditions inside Georgia prisons, including the targeting of LGBTQ inmates by prisoners and staff.
On Tuesday, in a news conference, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said the Justice Department found "significant justification" to open the investigation, citing dozens of murders, stabbings and beatings, scores of smuggled weapons, and documented gang activity inside state-run prisons.
Last year, 26 people in state-run prisons were killed in confirmed or suspected homicides, and 18 others have been killed this year. Additionally, an investigation by the Southern Center for Human Rights, a nonprofit law firm that monitors conditions in state prisons, last year found that inmates in Georgia state prisons had a suicide rate twice the national average, raising further red flags.
A New Jersey grand jury has indicted a Baltimore teenager who stands accused of nearly beating to death a man whom he believed was gay.
José Tobias Carranza Serrano, 18, also known as Kevin Lopez, was indicted last week on charges of first-degree attempted murder and bias intimidation -- a hate crime charge -- for allegedly beating and choking a 37-year-old learning disabled man in James J. Braddock North Hudson Park in North Bergen, New Jersey, on June 21.
Carranza Serrano was also indicted on charges of first-degree robbery and second-degree aggravated assault in the incident, which left the victim hospitalized and in a medically-induced coma at the time. The victim has since recovered from his injuries.
A cheer and stunt team coach who was fired from his position earlier this year has sued the Murrieta Valley Unified School District, alleging he was unlawfully terminated because he's a gay man.
Michael Henderson served as the cheer and stunt coach at Murrieta Valley High School, in Murrieta, California, for more than three years from early 2017 to June 2020. Under his leadership, the cheer and stunt program finished sixth at the 2020 National High School Cheerleading Championship and fourth place in 2021.
However, Henderson was fired in June after school officials received an anonymous letter from a parent claiming that the popular cheer coach was "incompetent in his position, had a poor work ethic/attitude, was abusive to children, was homosexual."
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A New Jersey mayor is calling for an investigation after a group of public school teachers were caught making homophobic comments in a chat shared during a Zoom class.
In a group chat on Nov. 25, teachers from Dumont High School in Dumont, N.J., made disparaging comments about one of their co-workers.
“Why is that kid with the gay gym teacher?” one asked, according to a screenshot of the chat that was captured by a student and shared with NJ Advance Media.
“Is that her adopted kid? Who is gonna be all fucked up growing up watching 2 chicks kissing and calling them both mom,” said another.
Dumont Mayor Andrew LaBruno condemned the disparaging comments, saying in a Facebook post that the comments were ‘disturbing and extremely appalling” and calling on Superintendent Emanuele Triggiano to investigate the matter.
LaBruno said in the post that after speaking to Triggiano, the superintendent assured him that the incident “is being taken seriously and will be thoroughly investigated.”
See also: Missouri teacher attacks marriage equality, students demand action
“These homophobic comments do not reflect our community’s values, nor do they represent our beliefs in the Borough of Dumont,” LaBruno said in the post. “We are an inclusive and welcoming community. We were the first mayor and Council to raise the Pride flag in support of our neighbors in the LGBTQ community.
“While there is still much work to be done fighting against inequalities and standing up for human rights, our educators mold our children’s minds, and these comments have no place in our education system,” he added. “Dumont is one big family, and together we must ensure that all of our neighbors know that hate has no home here.”
The incident has sparked outrage among some in the community, who began circulating a Change.org petition calling for the teachers involved in the group chat to be fired. The petition has garnered more than 21,000 signatures as of publication time.
“This behavior is unacceptable and should not be tolerated by the school district or its employees, and should result in their forced resignations immediately,” the petition reads.
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