Minn. High School Supports Student Standing Up Against Prejudice

This is a wonderful example of someone not only standing up against hate but being supported by plenty of her peers and her school's administration. I believe this is an example that should be followed everywhere some bigot acts out their hatred in a public place.

From Edge Boston:

A freshman at a Minnesota high school had endured shoving, spitting, and name calling. When a hate message was scrawled across her locker, she decided enough was enough.

Leah Matz, a 15-year-old student at St. Peter High, got together with some of her peers and organized a lunchtime demonstration to say that hate speech, and hateful acts of anti-gay violence, would not be accepted.

The school’s administration backed Matz up, allowing the public to attend the demonstration, which took place Fri., Feb. 8.

Matz had come out as a lesbian in junior high. Since then, she had suffered anti-gay harassment, including verbal and physical abuse.

Finally, the Minn. newspaper Mankato Free Press reported, Matz saw that someone had written "Dykes Suck" across her locker, and that tipped the balance for the 15-year-old high school freshman.

Hearing that fellow students had suffered similar treatment, Matz and her peers organized the demonstration, which included theatre and testimonials, as well as massive support from students wearing slogan-bearing T-shirts that read, "Stop Hate. Just Love."

The Mankato Free Press article quoted St. Peter senior Annika Lammert as saying, "I think it’s important to step up and show support."

Added Lammert, "Discrimination shouldn’t happen to anyone."

Matz addressed a crowd of hundreds, including students, alumni, parents, and other members of the local community who gathered in the school’s auditorium, the Mankoto Free Press story reported.

Click here to read the rest of the story.