Outspoken: Joseph Amodeo.As I open my car door I begin to fill with anxiety. I slowly get out and approach the main building at Marlboro High, a very conservative-minded school in southern New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of State. Inside I know I have friends as well as those who want to make my life difficult. As I prepare to graduate I am feeling as if my school has abandoned me. Last fall my psychology teacher was lecturing on gender identity and explained to the class that homosexuality was caused by a gene, which one day could be "plucked pluck v. plucked, pluck·ing, plucks v.tr. 1. To remove or detach by grasping and pulling abruptly with the fingers; pick: pluck a flower; pluck feathers from a chicken. " from every child through genetic engineering. He had already spoken out against same-sex marriage Noun 1. same-sex marriage - two people of the same sex who live together as a family; "the legal status of same-sex marriages has been hotly debated" couple, twosome, duet, duo - a pair who associate with one another; "the engaged couple"; "an inseparable and the immoral nature of a gay "lifestyle." So I removed myself from his class, Later I found out he was telling other teachers he suspected I was gay. I complained to the district administration, but the teacher apologized and they decided not to reprimand REPRIMAND, punishment. The censure which in some cases a public office pronounces against an offender. 2. This species of punishment is used by legislative bodies to punish their members or others who have been guilty of some impropriety of conduct towards them. him. A few months after that confrontation, a girl at the school started calling me "faggot" and other names and eventually threatened to beat me up. I called her a bitch and went to the principal's office to report the incident. The next day the girl was suspended sus·pend v. sus·pend·ed, sus·pend·ing, sus·pends v.tr. 1. To bar for a period from a privilege, office, or position, usually as a punishment: suspend a student from school. . But so was I for calling her a bitch. What bothers me is not the suspension but the fact that they are equating e·quate v. e·quat·ed, e·quat·ing, e·quates v.tr. 1. To make equal or equivalent. 2. To reduce to a standard or an average; equalize. 3. my offense with hers. As a student who has given much to this school, I find it difficult to understand why the school is not protecting me for who I am. I know that life will be hard for me, but why should I have to put up with this? So I am committed to ensuring that future gay or lesbian students don't have to endure the same treatment. I organized a Day of Silence protest this spring, and I have laid the ground-work for an unofficial un·of·fi·cial adj. Of or being a drug that is not listed in the United States Pharmacopeia or the National Formulary. gay club to meet at the school. Although there was much anguish caused by my encounters at Marlboro, I do have the school to thank for one thing--it showed me where my life must now go. I intend to study to become a civil rights attorney to ensure that the liberties of all Americans--gay or straight-are protected. --Amodeo is 18 and lives in Marlboro, N,Y. |
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