Insubordination!

There's nothing quite so alarming to conservatives as the realization that their children are beginning to think for themselves. The scene: Woodburn, Indiana - in the northeastern part of the state, near the border with Ohio. Megan Chase, a sophomore at Woodlan Junior-Senior High School wrote a student editorial for her school newspaper, the Woodlan Tomahawk, urging understanding and acceptance for gays.

Her article concludes, "I don't understand why we would put so much pressure on those people, that they would feel that they have to end their lives because of their sexuality. Would it be so hard to just accept them as human beings who have feelings just like everyone else? Being homosexual doesn't make a person inhuman, it makes them just a little bit different than the rest of the world. And for living in a society that tells you to always be yourself, it's(sic) a hard price to pay."

Cue the authorities going berzerko. True to form, the school's principal, Edwin Yoder, demanded that he approve each future issue of the paper and accused the students' journalism teacher, Amy Sorrell, of insubordination, exposing her students to inappropriate materials, failing to carry out her responsibilities as a teacher and threatening to fire her if she does not comply with his orders. Sorrell explained, "I didn’t think it was going to be an issue at all. I didn’t think anybody would be upset about it."

The students, doing what students do, are appealing Yoder's decision, have petitioned the school board, requesting that the school board implement a non-discrimination policy including gays and lesbians. The school board, of course, has done its best to ignore the students as best it can.

Despite the authorities' angry response, it seems clear that their overreaction will only serve to galvinize the students. That is, once again, what students do. Anyone who is frustrated at the slow pace of change when it comes to gay rights, here's another reminder that the battle is already won...

(via Towleroad.)