Four New Jersey high school science teachers have been suspended with pay after making homophobic comments about a colleague in the chat section of a Zoom class last month.
The names of the teachers, all employees of Dumont High School in Dumont, N.J., were not made public, although the school district’s business administrator, Kevin Cartotto, announced the suspensions during a public meeting at the high school last Thursday.
Cartotto said the district decided to hand out the suspensions following an investigation into the alleged comments, but had to continue to pay the teachers while they were out of school, due to state law prohibiting school boards from suspending teachers without pay, reports NorthJersey.com.
The teachers made the comments in the chat section of a Zoom class, calling out a fellow teacher for being a lesbian.
“Why is that kid with the gay gym teacher?” one asked, according to a screenshot of the chat captured by students and shared on social media.
“Is that her adopted kid? Who is gonna be all fucked up growing up watching 2 chicks kissing and calling them both mom,” wrote another teacher.
Dumont Mayor Andrew LaBruno called the remarks “disturbing and extremely appalling” in a Facebook post, and demanded that Superintendent Emanuele Triggiano launch an investigation after the screenshots of the chat were widely shared.
Matthew DeMarco, a former student at the high school, created a Change.org online petition calling on the teachers involved in the incident to resign. The petition received over 25,000 signatures.
DeMarco said he was prompted to make the comments public because the gym teacher who was the subject of the conversation was a favorite teacher of his when he attended Dumont High School from 2012 to 2014.
“My first impression on seeing this was I was appalled,” DeMarco said. “I had her when I was a student, and she was a safety net for many students. She showed compassion for her students and she showed she cared for her students.
“It was just seeing her being talked about like that by her colleagues, by high school teachers,” he added. “It’s unbelievable … I just don’t see it as acceptable.”
Christian Fuscarino, the executive director of the LGBTQ rights group Garden State Equality, denounced the comments made by the suspended teacher.
The homophobic comments of educators during school classes is outrageous and underscores the fact that work surrounding lived equality is never over,” Fuscarino said.
Fuscarino told NorthJersey.com in an interview that he had spoken to the teacher who was the subject of the disparaging comments, but declined to elaborate on their conversation.
He said his organization had been in touch with district officials and has had “productive lines of communication” with officials about instituting mandatory sensitivity training and incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum into the classroom.
Jennifer Grom, a Dumont resident who teaches in another school district but has children enrolled in Dumont Public Schools, criticized the board of education for not denouncing the comments more firmly, as LaBruno did.
“The board is constantly on teachers to show concern for their students, and I think there were a lot of students in town, with the town becoming more diverse and more progressive, that were looking for their board to come out against that,” Grom said.
Organizers of the annual Nashville Pride Festival & Parade have launched a fundraiser to help sustain future events after several longtime sponsors withdrew their support.
In an Aug. 20 press release, Nashville Pride said sponsorship revenue is down $270,000 from previous years.
Nearly 40% of the festival's longtime sponsors withdrew support for this year's Pride -- some just days before the festivities kicked off in late June -- according to Nashville Public Radio station WPLN. Among them were Bridgestone Americas, a presenting sponsor for 11 years, and Nissan, which ended its presenting sponsorship after four years.
Gun rights groups are blasting the Trump administration after CNN reported that senior Justice Department officials have been discussing the possibility of restricting transgender U.S. citizens from owning firearms, following the recent mass shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis. Although officials described the talks as "preliminary," critics warn that even floating such a proposal scapegoats transgender people and threatens their constitutional rights.
The internal talks appeared to draw on a theory promoted by conservative influencers and media outlets: that transgender people are mentally ill, and that transition-related hormones negatively affect mental health, making them more prone to violence.
Cracker Barrel has removed the "Pride" section of its website, which once highlighted the chain's sponsorship of the Nashville Pride Parade. Visitors are now redirected to a "Culture and Belonging" page.
The company insists the change was part of routine site updates, not a reaction to backlash from right-wing conservatives.
"In connection with the Company's brand work, we have recently made updates to the Cracker Barrel website, including adding new content and removing out-of-date content," a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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Four New Jersey high school science teachers have been suspended with pay after making homophobic comments about a colleague in the chat section of a Zoom class last month.
The names of the teachers, all employees of Dumont High School in Dumont, N.J., were not made public, although the school district’s business administrator, Kevin Cartotto, announced the suspensions during a public meeting at the high school last Thursday.
Cartotto said the district decided to hand out the suspensions following an investigation into the alleged comments, but had to continue to pay the teachers while they were out of school, due to state law prohibiting school boards from suspending teachers without pay, reports NorthJersey.com.
The teachers made the comments in the chat section of a Zoom class, calling out a fellow teacher for being a lesbian.
“Why is that kid with the gay gym teacher?” one asked, according to a screenshot of the chat captured by students and shared on social media.
“Is that her adopted kid? Who is gonna be all fucked up growing up watching 2 chicks kissing and calling them both mom,” wrote another teacher.
Dumont Mayor Andrew LaBruno called the remarks “disturbing and extremely appalling” in a Facebook post, and demanded that Superintendent Emanuele Triggiano launch an investigation after the screenshots of the chat were widely shared.
Matthew DeMarco, a former student at the high school, created a Change.org online petition calling on the teachers involved in the incident to resign. The petition received over 25,000 signatures.
DeMarco said he was prompted to make the comments public because the gym teacher who was the subject of the conversation was a favorite teacher of his when he attended Dumont High School from 2012 to 2014.
“My first impression on seeing this was I was appalled,” DeMarco said. “I had her when I was a student, and she was a safety net for many students. She showed compassion for her students and she showed she cared for her students.
“It was just seeing her being talked about like that by her colleagues, by high school teachers,” he added. “It’s unbelievable … I just don’t see it as acceptable.”
See also: Missouri teacher attacks marriage equality, students demand action
Christian Fuscarino, the executive director of the LGBTQ rights group Garden State Equality, denounced the comments made by the suspended teacher.
The homophobic comments of educators during school classes is outrageous and underscores the fact that work surrounding lived equality is never over,” Fuscarino said.
Fuscarino told NorthJersey.com in an interview that he had spoken to the teacher who was the subject of the disparaging comments, but declined to elaborate on their conversation.
He said his organization had been in touch with district officials and has had “productive lines of communication” with officials about instituting mandatory sensitivity training and incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum into the classroom.
Jennifer Grom, a Dumont resident who teaches in another school district but has children enrolled in Dumont Public Schools, criticized the board of education for not denouncing the comments more firmly, as LaBruno did.
“The board is constantly on teachers to show concern for their students, and I think there were a lot of students in town, with the town becoming more diverse and more progressive, that were looking for their board to come out against that,” Grom said.
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