Principal Scuttles Cosmetology Class Because One Student Looks Gay

Assuming everything reported is correct, it's being reported that Principal Thomas Amons of Beaumont Independent School District's Taylor Career and Technology Center has shut down the school's Adult Cosmetology class and fired its instructor because one of its male students is thought to be gay. According to this article, he was legally prohibited from kicking out the student himself solely because of his sexual orientation so he did the next best thing: he discontinued the entire cosmetology program effective yesterday:

“I don’t understand this. I really don’t,” (instructor Cequada) Clark said. “(Amons) told me he would rather shut down the program altogether than to have ‘riff-raff’ like that in the program. The next day, he shut down the program.” Clark, who has headed the adult cosmetology program since 2009 at BISD, said, “Earlier this year, I learned he had a problem with gay guys while we were at the hair show in April.” Clark said at the hair show, Amons told her that he never wanted to see “flamboyantly gay guys” in the BISD program like the men enrolled at other programs competing in the event...

“As soon as we got a student that (Amons) thought was gay, that was the end. He saw (Gray) come into the class, and then he came to get me out of there,” Clark said of Principal Amons, a man who also serves as a deacon at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church. The instructor said she was told to tell Gray he wasn’t welcome in the program. Feeling a moral objection to what was taking place, she refused. “I told (Amons) if he wanted to tell that young man that, he would need to do that himself...”

“I take this very seriously. Most of my students coming in are single moms trying to move ahead and make a life for themselves. My thing is, I bust my tail off with this program: I give God the glory because it’s been doing good since I’ve been there. At the very least, I’d like to see Mr. Amons apologize to that young man and to allow those already entered in the program to finish their instruction to get licensed,” Clark said, adding that the right thing to do would be to continue the program and allow Gray to enter...

Gray... said he was initially excited to start the BISD program... “He never even talked to me. He just judged me. I don’t know and I don’t care (why); I just don’t want him to be over any other kids and maybe do that to them, too. He can cause a lot of trouble for students like that.” Gray said he is gay but has never been open about his sexuality before now, and was forced into the spotlight when word was given to the entire class that the reason no one would be furthering their education in cosmetology was because of him. “Six or seven other girls in there can’t get their license because of me,” Gray explained. “That just isn’t right. Right now, I can see I’m going to need counseling. I wasn’t at the point in my life to really open up about my sexuality. This is a big depression on me – he thought I was gay, and he didn’t want me around. That’s pretty tough to hear.”

Instructor Cequada Clark was subsequently fired after publicly discussing this whole mess. Amons himself has so far managed to stay off the record in the new reports I've read.

The school, according to its website, has a culinary art program. Hopefully any gays in there stay in the closet or else there won't be much more to the school's curriculum!

Seriously though, assuming everything reported is correct it's pretty shady that the entire Adult Cosmetology program was shut down in order to keep one student out of the program. These students are trying to learn a trade that will help them become productive members of this society. Now they have all been cut lose because of one man's alleged prejudice.