DETROIT, Mich. – A teacher at Howell High School was suspended without pay after he banned a student from class for a day when the student stated that he did not accept gays.
Last month, Jay McDowell asked a student to remove a belt buckle with a Confederate flag on it. Another student asked how wearing a buckle with a gay pride flag on it was more appropriate than wearing one with a Confederate flag, USA Today reports. McDowell was wearing an anti-gay bullying message at the time of the incident.
According to McDowell, the student then said he did not accept gays. McDowell told the student not to express that sentiment at school, and sent him out of the classroom.
McDowell has since received a reprimand letter stating that he violated the students’ free speech and purposely incited the incident by wearing a shirt with an anti-gay bullying message.
