News A Homophobic Moment
posted by on June 27 at 10:10 AM
The school official that had a gay kiss blacked out of a yearbook in New Jersey has finally apologized—in person and for real—to the openly gay student whose “tribute page” was censored. Says Marion Bolden now…
“We have to own up to the fact that it was a homophobic moment. That’s what everybody’s afraid to say. There are sensitivity issues we need to talk about as a result of this.”
Marion Bolden offered written apology, which Andre Jackson heard about from reporters. He refused to accept it. When Bolden showed up at Newark’s East Side High on Tuesday and made an apology to a student assembly, and then met privately with Jackson, and he accepted her apology. Still…
During her public remarks, she said the picture of Jackson kissing his boyfriend was not appropriate for the yearbook and that, if it was to be removed, two pictures of heterosexual couples kissing should have been removed as well.Jackson, who paid $150 for the page, and others noted that the yearbook was filled with pictures of the heterosexual couples kissing.
Jackson earlier told reporters that the yearbook incident revived tensions in his family about his sexuality, and his decision to come out.
I'm still surprised they don't have a rule that says no pictures of kissing whatsoever in the yearbook. My school would never have allowed that.
I had a homophobic moment once - right after sucking cock.
yeah, i agree, there should be no photos of kissing. Just tacky anyway.
I'm glad there was an apology. People do panic and make mistakes.
Um, the yearbooks are already printed. Isn't it a bit late to not be allowing certain pictures, especially if they want to get rid of a whole bunch of them?
Lawyer. Sue. Teach 'em a lesson.
OK, it's things like this that make me insanely glad that I graduated from a very open-minded school.
She didn't apologize. SHE was the one who said "black out the pics" yet says "WE screwed up". No ma'am, WE didn't do anything, YOU did.
I sure hope he got his $150 back at least. None of the articles I've read addresses that.
Who gives a shit about some ugly little fag's yearbook picture? He's going to have a tough life if he gets all bent out of shape over something like this. And what do people expect when the school officials see two fags kissing in the yearbook? Accept it?
Never. Gonna. Happen.
Uh... is that really you, Fnarf? It's about equal treatment -- if they were going to black out Jackson's kissing photo, they had to black out the others as well. That includes the much more explicit photo of two straight kids kissing ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE!
That ain't fnarf. The real fnarf can be a bitch sometimes, but this poser isn't even close.
I'm actually pleasantly surprised that Bolden acknowledged that is was motivated by homophobia. It is refreshing to see some honesty these days...
Canīt be fnarf, no way???? Or he is being sarcastic?
Comment 8 was not, indeed, written by Fnarf. We've changed "posted by" credit for accuracy's sake.
How can you claim accuracy when anyone can post as anyone?
I'm sorry I missed that little contretemps. No, that wasn't me; I'm OK with fags kissing, but I am unalterably opposed to high school yearbooks, except when pulled out for purposes of humiliation decades later.
But it looks like one of my many fans is on furlough from Western State again.
Fnarf: you know you've made it when people start posting under your handle.
The apology was the right thing to do. But what does any of this have to do with "family tensions" about his sexuality and his decision to come out? Would the uncensored photo of him kissing another boy not have raised these tensions? He remarked in a previous article about how he's never had to deal with any kind of negativity about his sexuality. Hopefully this incident will be a much-needed dose of reality for him. You can't back down, but you can't expect it to be easy, either.
Mike in MO: I may have "made it" on the Slog, but is that all there is? I had a letter posted on Sullivan once (about Tab cola, for chrissake), but is that enough of a mark on the world?
@16
The uncensored photo would not have made news. His parents seem to be fine with his sexuality. How many times did you show your yearbook to your Aunty or Gram though?
I think Boomer is right.
Considering that now he has to go through shit from his family again, too, I think it's time to consider a lawyer. Honestly - I hate the idea of even advocating legal retaliation, but, ya gotta do what ya gotta do...
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