A Dallas LGBTQ advocacy group called on Irving ISD to reinstate two teachers who were allegedly removed from MacArthur High School this month for supporting gay and transgender students.
The Resource Center of Dallas also urged that the district develop a comprehensive plan to support gay and transgender students, including by implementing gender-sexuality alliances at every high school campus, and that it provide training to staff members on LGBTQ identities and the risks that these Texas students face.
The request comes two days after hundreds of students at MacArthur High School walked out of class to protest the treatment of the two teachers who fought the removal of stickers from their classroom doors supporting gay and transgender rights.
“If Irving ISD is not providing a solution, they are perpetuating the problem,” Resource Center CEO Cece Cox said in a written statement. “By removing safe space signage and taking action against teachers who visibly support LGBTQ students, Irving ISD is fostering an unwelcoming and potentially threatening environment that only makes life more difficult for LGBTQ students. The district should foster dialogue, not limit it. They are failing to meet their obligation to serve all students equitably.”
Students said that some teachers placed rainbow stickers on their classroom doors to signal to students that they were safe spaces for LGBTQ students.
But the school principal required them to remove the stickers, citing district policy that teachers cannot use the classroom to “transmit personal beliefs regarding political or sectarian issues.”
The district declined to comment on the teachers’ statuses, but several students said that two teachers who fought the removal of the stickers had not yet returned to school since the incident.
This week, students have placed supportive notes on the teachers’ doors and posted photos to social media. Some notes say “Justice” and “Protect gay students.”
One of the teachers, Rachel Stonecipher, who is the sponsor of the campus’ Gay-Straight Alliance, told CBS DFW Channel 11 that some Safe Space posters were removed at the school.
“I was freaked. The kids were freaked out,” Stonecipher said.
“I was a little scared, too, because I’m the only openly, very obviously gay teacher, lesbian teacher.”
Stonecipher told Channel 11 that she could not answer questions about her removal.
“I’m fine. The kids don’t need to be concerned about me,” she said, adding that she and other teachers remain allies.
According to the GLSEN National School Climate Survey, 74 percent of LGBTQ students report verbal harassment due to sexual orientation and more than a quarter report physical harassment due to gender, gender expression or sexual orientation.
Irving ISD released a written statement but has declined further comment.
“We value each student and strive to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for every student, employee and family,” the district said. “To ensure that all students feel safe regardless of background or identity, the district has developed guidelines to ensure that posters, banners and stickers placed in classrooms, hallways or offices are curriculum driven and neutral in viewpoint.”
