A teacher at Dorman High School in Spartanburg, South Carolina, was fired for distributing an article on the International Bear Brotherhood to students in her 10th-grade class on April 14. The teacher reportedly gave students the unapproved article about the LGBTQ+ subculture to facilitate discussion in class. This personal decision led to the teacher being placed on administrative leave and later fired.
The school district officials noted that the teacher had attended a recent meeting reminding teachers that all potentially questionable lessons and materials should be approved. However, the teacher claimed that it was her decision to distribute the material to her students.
This incident brings attention to the ongoing battle to protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in South Carolina. In February 2020, a coalition of LGBTQ+ organizations filed a lawsuit to stop the state from enforcing a 1988 law that bans schools from discussing “alternate sexual lifestyles from heterosexual relationships,” specifically “homosexual relationships.” The following month, the state settled the suit, agreeing not to enforce the law any longer.
While Judge David Norton ordered the state’s superintendent of education to circulate a memo to all school districts informing them that the law should no longer be taken into consideration when deciding curriculum, incidents like this one demonstrate that discrimination still exists in South Carolina schools.
As the fight for equality and acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals continues, it is crucial that schools provide a safe and inclusive environment for all students.