Gay Student Teacher Fired for Saying He Wanted to Marry a Man?

Many of us have had student teachers, those juniors and seniors in college who step into elementary school, middle school and high school classrooms to get some 'on-the-job' training. For anyone getting their degree in education, student teaching is practically a requirement; a time to put what you learned in the classroom into practice.

But for at least one Oregon college student, the student teaching process seemed to be a reminder that in some school districts, it's still not OK to acknowledge the existence of LGBT people.

Head on over to Beaverton School District, in the suburbs of Portland. There, Seth Stambaugh, a 23-year-old graduate teaching student at Lewis and Clark College, was told by school district administrators that he was no longer allowed to student teach in the district. They told him he had made "inappropriate" comments, and that he would have to find another school district to student teach in.

So just what were those "inappropriate" comments? According to the Portland Mercury, Stambaugh was asked by a student whether he was married. Stambaugh, openly gay, said that he was not, adding that it would be illegal for him to be married in the state of Oregon because he “would choose to marry another guy.” Asked by the same student whether that meant that Stambaugh liked hanging out with men, Stambaugh replied "Yeah."

They say that honesty is the best policy. But in this case, a parent in the school district caught wind of the conversation and went to school administrators telling them that if they didn't remove Stambaugh from the classroom, the parent would remove his child.

So the school district called up Stambaugh and Lewis and Clark College, and said that these comments were "inappropriate," and that Stambaugh would have to student teach elsewhere.

Yes, apparently in the Beaverton School District, just saying that you may want to marry someone of the same gender could get you removed from the classroom. Sound awful? Send a note to the Beaverton School District demanding that they explain the rationale for removing a student teacher on the basis of his sexual orientation.

What's even more agitating in this instance is that the parent who complained about Stambaugh's comment also complained about Stambaugh's choice in clothing earlier in the semester. The parent called the school to file a complaint about Stambaugh's outfit: pressed slacks, a button-up oxford shirt, and a cardigan, which happened to be a gift from Stambaugh's grandfather. Apparently the outfit was too provocative for this parent, prompting a complaint. Lord knows what would have happened if the outfit would have included a tie.

The Beaverton School District, for their part, is sticking to their guns, telling media that these incidences occurred, and that they worked with Lewis and Clark College to get Stambaugh placed in another school district where oxford shirts aren't so homosexual. But if you ask folks at Lewis and Clark, which is what The Portland Mercury did, they say that they were completely cut off from the decision-making process to remove Stambaugh, and had hoped to work with the school district directly to address the issue. The school district made the decision on their own, without working with Stambaugh's professors or administrative staff at Lewis and Clark.

Which makes this case sound pretty bad. One parent complains about a student teacher acknowledging the reality that same-sex couples can't get married in the state of Oregon, and that's enough to get said student teacher fired? That's troublesome, and if proven true, it's also a pretty stark case of discriminating against someone because of their sexual orientation.

Beaverton officials continue to fall back on the mantra that Stambaugh's conversation was not appropriate. "Our concerns were about the professional judgment and age appropriateness," said spokeswoman Maureen Wheeler.

What is age appropriate then? Lying to the student? Forcing a student teacher like Stambaugh to pretend to be straight? Is that what Beaverton officials would have rather had seen happen? Because, by all accounts, that would be fostering a climate of lying and dishonesty. Hard to imagine those are the values that Beaverton officials would like to see instilled in its fourth graders.

It's also worth noting that this isn't the first time LGBT concerns have been raised regarding the Beaverton School District. Several years back, a former teacher sued the district, alleging that the school district created an openly hostile environment full of humiliation, harassment and intimidation, following the teacher's decision to put on a production of The Laramie Project, the play that chronicles the death and immediate aftermath of Matthew Shepard.

Stambaugh now has a pro bono lawyer, Lake Perriguey, who told The Portland Mercury that Stambaugh is now looking to find an alternative placement -- a true loss given that Stambaugh prepared for his Beaverton school assignment for weeks.

"He's looking at all of his options right now. His primary concern has always been to be a good teacher," said Perriguey.

Huh, what do you know. His primary concern was to be a good teacher. And instead, Beaverton School District gave him the boot.

Photo credit: cdsessums