Four New Jersey high school science teachers have been suspended with pay after making homophobic comments about a colleague in the chat section of a Zoom class last month.
The names of the teachers, all employees of Dumont High School in Dumont, N.J., were not made public, although the school district’s business administrator, Kevin Cartotto, announced the suspensions during a public meeting at the high school last Thursday.
Cartotto said the district decided to hand out the suspensions following an investigation into the alleged comments, but had to continue to pay the teachers while they were out of school, due to state law prohibiting school boards from suspending teachers without pay, reports NorthJersey.com.
The teachers made the comments in the chat section of a Zoom class, calling out a fellow teacher for being a lesbian.
“Why is that kid with the gay gym teacher?” one asked, according to a screenshot of the chat captured by students and shared on social media.
“Is that her adopted kid? Who is gonna be all fucked up growing up watching 2 chicks kissing and calling them both mom,” wrote another teacher.
Dumont Mayor Andrew LaBruno called the remarks “disturbing and extremely appalling” in a Facebook post, and demanded that Superintendent Emanuele Triggiano launch an investigation after the screenshots of the chat were widely shared.
Matthew DeMarco, a former student at the high school, created a Change.org online petition calling on the teachers involved in the incident to resign. The petition received over 25,000 signatures.
DeMarco said he was prompted to make the comments public because the gym teacher who was the subject of the conversation was a favorite teacher of his when he attended Dumont High School from 2012 to 2014.
“My first impression on seeing this was I was appalled,” DeMarco said. “I had her when I was a student, and she was a safety net for many students. She showed compassion for her students and she showed she cared for her students.
“It was just seeing her being talked about like that by her colleagues, by high school teachers,” he added. “It’s unbelievable … I just don’t see it as acceptable.”
Christian Fuscarino, the executive director of the LGBTQ rights group Garden State Equality, denounced the comments made by the suspended teacher.
The homophobic comments of educators during school classes is outrageous and underscores the fact that work surrounding lived equality is never over,” Fuscarino said.
Fuscarino told NorthJersey.com in an interview that he had spoken to the teacher who was the subject of the disparaging comments, but declined to elaborate on their conversation.
He said his organization had been in touch with district officials and has had “productive lines of communication” with officials about instituting mandatory sensitivity training and incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum into the classroom.
Jennifer Grom, a Dumont resident who teaches in another school district but has children enrolled in Dumont Public Schools, criticized the board of education for not denouncing the comments more firmly, as LaBruno did.
“The board is constantly on teachers to show concern for their students, and I think there were a lot of students in town, with the town becoming more diverse and more progressive, that were looking for their board to come out against that,” Grom said.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has ordered employees to stop processing claims from LGBTQ individuals alleging violations of their rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of "sex."
In a 2020 court case, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the federal civil rights law's protections extend to instances where employees have been fired or denied promotions due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The finding in that case runs counter to the Trump administration's recent executive orders refusing to recognize gender identity as valid and recognizing "sex" as fixed and congruent with one's assigned sex at birth.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have adopted a new rules package that allows a proposed transgender sports ban to be fast-tracked and voted on without a chance to offer amendments.
Under the text of the rules package, 12 bills that Republican lawmakers have long prioritized -- primarily having to do with immigration, anti-abortion measures, and fracking -- are to be voted upon "as read."
Among those is a measure to "amend the Education Amendments of 1972 to provide that for purposes of determining compliance with Title IX of such Act in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth."
Just as it did four years ago, the Trump administration has removed nearly all mentions of LGBTQ identity and HIV from the White House website.
Moreover, searches for "lesbian," "gay," and "bisexual" result in an executive order from President Donald Trump reversing various executive orders issued by former President Joe Biden.
A search for "transgender" brings up the same order, as well as a separate order effectively erasing gender identity from law and requiring the federal government to only recognize a person's assigned sex at birth on identity documents, government surveys, and to receive any government benefits.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
Four New Jersey high school science teachers have been suspended with pay after making homophobic comments about a colleague in the chat section of a Zoom class last month.
The names of the teachers, all employees of Dumont High School in Dumont, N.J., were not made public, although the school district’s business administrator, Kevin Cartotto, announced the suspensions during a public meeting at the high school last Thursday.
Cartotto said the district decided to hand out the suspensions following an investigation into the alleged comments, but had to continue to pay the teachers while they were out of school, due to state law prohibiting school boards from suspending teachers without pay, reports NorthJersey.com.
The teachers made the comments in the chat section of a Zoom class, calling out a fellow teacher for being a lesbian.
“Why is that kid with the gay gym teacher?” one asked, according to a screenshot of the chat captured by students and shared on social media.
“Is that her adopted kid? Who is gonna be all fucked up growing up watching 2 chicks kissing and calling them both mom,” wrote another teacher.
Dumont Mayor Andrew LaBruno called the remarks “disturbing and extremely appalling” in a Facebook post, and demanded that Superintendent Emanuele Triggiano launch an investigation after the screenshots of the chat were widely shared.
Matthew DeMarco, a former student at the high school, created a Change.org online petition calling on the teachers involved in the incident to resign. The petition received over 25,000 signatures.
DeMarco said he was prompted to make the comments public because the gym teacher who was the subject of the conversation was a favorite teacher of his when he attended Dumont High School from 2012 to 2014.
“My first impression on seeing this was I was appalled,” DeMarco said. “I had her when I was a student, and she was a safety net for many students. She showed compassion for her students and she showed she cared for her students.
“It was just seeing her being talked about like that by her colleagues, by high school teachers,” he added. “It’s unbelievable … I just don’t see it as acceptable.”
See also: Missouri teacher attacks marriage equality, students demand action
Christian Fuscarino, the executive director of the LGBTQ rights group Garden State Equality, denounced the comments made by the suspended teacher.
The homophobic comments of educators during school classes is outrageous and underscores the fact that work surrounding lived equality is never over,” Fuscarino said.
Fuscarino told NorthJersey.com in an interview that he had spoken to the teacher who was the subject of the disparaging comments, but declined to elaborate on their conversation.
He said his organization had been in touch with district officials and has had “productive lines of communication” with officials about instituting mandatory sensitivity training and incorporating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum into the classroom.
Jennifer Grom, a Dumont resident who teaches in another school district but has children enrolled in Dumont Public Schools, criticized the board of education for not denouncing the comments more firmly, as LaBruno did.
“The board is constantly on teachers to show concern for their students, and I think there were a lot of students in town, with the town becoming more diverse and more progressive, that were looking for their board to come out against that,” Grom said.
Read more:
West Virginia Republican who resigned over anti-gay comments has been re-elected
Lesbian couple settles lawsuit with senior living community that rejected them
Trump immigration rule would prevent most LGBTQ and HIV+ refugees from seeking asylum
READ NEXT