Alabama high school students caught shouting anti-gay slurs at gay couple
School district apologizes after James Clemens students shout "f**k the gays"
An Alabama school district has apologized after students were caught yelling anti-gay slurs at a gay couple.
The students, all baseball players from James Clemens High School, were captured on a security camera at the home of Colin Tomblin and his partner Jason in Madison, Ala.
In the video, the teens can be seen driving past the couple’s house while yelling “fuck the gays” and “fuck the faggots.”
The incident took place around 11 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 10, and Tomblin said he identified the students after speaking to neighbors.
Tomblin posted the video to his Facebook page, writing: “So this happened right before 11pm last night right in front of our home in Madison, AL. A car full of JCHS baseball players thought it would be a good idea to speed by while screaming ‘fu*k the gays’ and ‘fu*k the fa*gots’ at our house. We don’t know these kids and have never had a single interaction with them or done anything to warrant this hate speech and harassment.”
He continued: “This is 2020 and behavior like this should not be tolerated. If your kids do this to random strangers, imagine what they’re doing to their classmates and others. This bullying type behavior is exactly why kids are committing suicide.”
Madison City Schools Superintendent Robby Parker apologized this week, telling AL.com that the district “does not condone intolerance of any sort by its students or employees.”
“Character traits such as respect and acceptance are taught in the early grades and reinforced through the upper grades,” Parker added. “Behavior contrary to what is expected by Madison City Schools is regrettable and not a reflection of who we are as a school system.”
Parker said that James Clemens’ principal, Brian Clayton, had spoken to students about it.
Tomblin wrote on Facebook that he hoped “bringing awareness to this issue brings positive change to this type of behavior in the schools.”
He told AL.com: “We figure if these students are out in the community acting like this, they’re definitely acting like that to their fellow classmates in school. You see it all the time with LGBT kids committing suicide and turning to drugs.”
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