Sam Jay: Taking Aim - Metro Weekly, August 6, 2020

theFeed
“I’m not usually one to post,” the student wrote in a Facebook
post that has been shared more than 7,500 times. “But I can’t
help but post about this. I am a student at Highland High School
going into my senior year. Due to the coronavirus our school
did not receive its yearbook until today. Shockingly, one of the
senior quotes was not as funny as the rest…. ‘There are only two
genders and a lot of mental illness.’ This is a clear attack towards
the trans community at Highland.
“As a member of the the LQBTQ+, this was extremely offensive
to me and many of the students at my school,” the post continues.
“I demand action to be taken against the student and the
administrator that made it so hate speech could go into our 2020
yearbook. The quotes were submitted before COVID started and
the yearbook came out late. There is no excuse for this. Please
help me make this public so [the student] can face the consequences
of his actions.”
It is unclear exactly how the controversial quote managed to
make its way into the final yearbook without vetting from student
editors, faculty yearbook advisors, or other administrators.
The district confirmed that the quote was genuine and had been
published in the yearbook in a statement to the Deseret News.
“Unfortunately, one of the senior quotes in the yearbook
included hate speech. Even more unfortunately, this quote was
published in spite of the editing protocol in place for the yearbook,”
the statement reads.
“This yearbook quote is absolutely unacceptable and in no
way reflective of the Salt Lake City School District, the value
we place on every student, and the standards we strive to
uphold,” Interim Superintendent Larry Madden said in his own
statement. “Let me make it clear that the Salt Lake City School
District condemns hate speech in any form.
“To have something like this included in one of our high
school yearbooks is abhorrent. We are committed to providing
a safe and equitable learning environment for all students,
including our LGBTQIA+ community. To our LGBTQIA+ and
other marginalized students I say, please know how deeply your
teachers, school administrators and district leaders care about
you and your well-being,” Madden added.
An investigation is ongoing into how the quote managed to
evade scrutiny. The district will also be working with Highland’s
new principal to review the editing process to ensure a similar
incident doesn’t happen in the future.
“The inclusion of this quote in the yearbook is more than
just an administrative oversight; it is an affront, an attack on our
Highland community and our LGBTQIA+ community in particular,”
Jeremy Chatterton, who started as the new principal in
July, said in a statement.
“As principal, I will not allow hate speech like this in my
school community. While the student in question has graduated,
I want to reassure community members that I will take the steps
necessary to make sure something like this is never allowed to
happen again.”
UNICEF ETHIOPIA-2013-SEWUNET
Criminal Behavior
Laws criminalizing homosexuality increase risk of gay men getting HIV. By Rhuaridh Marr
GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN IN COUNTRIES WITH
harsh laws criminalizing their sexual activity are almost
five times more likely to have HIV than in countries
where homosexuality is legal. That’s according to a new study by
Johns Hopkins University, which examined men who have sex
with men (MSM) in ten sub-Saharan countries, aidsmap reports.
In countries with laws harshly penalizing homosexuality, MSM
are 4.6 times more likely to be living with HIV than those in
countries where same-sex sexual activity is legal, researchers
found. For countries where criminalization exists, but punish-
AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM
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