All Raymond Tullier, a high school junior, and his boyfriend Nicholas Newport, a sophomore, wanted was to go to their school prom together, drink punch and dance with their friends. But when the assistant principal, Lindy Gill, got wind of their plans, she immediately revoked their tickets.
Related: Prom Drama: Gays Banned, Then Un-Banned In Alabama
Tuillier and Newport attend The French Settlement High School, a public school in Livingston Parish, LA with approximately 400 students. On Friday, Gill, a devout Baptist and member of an online club called “I found JESUS,” told the boys that same-sex couples attending the prom together was “against school regulations,” though the school’s official handbook makes absolutely no mention of this.
But it gets worse. Because after Gill denied the boys tickets to the dance, she suspended one of them.
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Related: Two Gay Teen Athletes Share High School Prom Pics, Melt Hearts
Tullier sent a text message to his mother, Tamblie Babin, about what happened. She, in turn, called Gill to ask why her son and his boyfriend being denied entry to the prom.
“She said they didn’t allow same sex going to prom together,” Babin told WBRZ-TV, “it was against school regulations.”
Immediately after getting off the phone with Babin, Gill called Tullier into her office and suspended him for using his cell phone during school hours to text his mother for help.
Related: Straight Teen Asks His Gay Best Friend To Prom
After everything was said and done, the school ultimately allowed the boys to purchase tickets and attend the prom, which was held over the weekend. Meanwhile, Livingston Parish School Superintendent, John Watson, called for an investigation into the matter.
So far, the school is not saying whether Gill would be reprimanded for her actions, though according to the official handbook, “bullying of any kind, including cyberbullying, will not be tolerated and will be subject to disciplinary action.”
Related: WATCH: Brad And Dylan, The “Cutest Couple” At Carmel High School, Go To Prom
h/t: WBRZ-TV
Catherine Esterly-Williams
I like how this story ends…reviewing the handbook for bullying. Epic!!
sleepingoldfish
Ik this was a year ago and not many people will see this lol but I wanted to say I liked the quote including bullying/ cyber bullying also. It’s very ironic considering the youngest ft in this article has recently decided to bully me and our school has done nothing abt it…. so I’m stalking him lol?
BigG
For that bitch
BigG
Fire that bitch
1EqualityUSA
Brave boys. I wonder if it was a pre-planned thing. Either way, the assistant Principal, Lindy Gill, fell for it. Repercussion, though she feels justified by her faith to treat these other children of God in such a humiliating and cruel fashion. It’s easy to love one of your own.
Glücklich
Public school in Louisiana gets into spat with two gay students. Way to prioritize, school marm! PICK YOUR FUCKING BATTLES!
billeetee
Hey, Kim Davis ‘got away with it’. Kentucky Backwoods Mentality. Now we have Swamp Rat Mentality in Ms Gill and Jesus! And these little titles, “I FOUND JESUS” – long ago at the State Fair in Dallas, we were ‘besieged’ by a group with the booth and they literally were coming out of the booth to ‘assail’ passersby. The girl was in my face, shouting “Have you found Jesus?”, and I calmly looked at her and said “I didn’t know he was lost!” I turned to my friends and shouted, “Quick! We have to go find Jesus, he’s lost!”. The effect on the group was delicious!
So Fire this Bitch!
Raphael
According to her Facebook profile, she WORKED in French Settlement High School, so, she must have been punished.
1EqualityUSA
Lindy Gill puts the “settlement” in French Settlement High.
1EqualityUSA
besieged by a group with the booth…
Billy Budd
Fire the bitch. Hell is filled with religious people.
KerryB
How does someone afflicted with the pernicious mental illness called religion get a job as Assistant Principal? This is a blatant violation of separation of church (cult) and state.
TampaBayTed
@billeetee: Great comment!
scotshot
@1EqualityUSA:
A couple wants to go to the prom. Preplanned? Yes.
Did they expect Lindy Gill to force her prejudices on them? No.
In your words are Tiller & Newport the “other children of god”? If there were a god why would he treat them as “other” as he created everyone in his Image?
Eddie Nieves
Bullshit!
Lancome Counter
OMG is that Tim and Eric!
Lancome Counter
1EqualityUSA
scotshot, It’s easy to love one of your own. If this assistant Principal purports to believe in Christ, she is bound by law to love those, considered (from her point of view) unworthy of mercy and love. Her insensitive handling of this occasion is less than stellar. Strife is not love. Judgement of brothers and sisters is not love. Insistence that one’s own opinion is the right one, and treating others with disdain and contempt is not love. As per her beliefs, we are all children of God. It is not our place to be haughty. She should know this. As for Tuillier and Newport not surmising this rather predictable response from a holy roller ding-bat at their school? Well, let’s just let it wash out. I didn’t just fall off of the turnip truck.
Oric Eliver
Lawsuit ftw
Chris Vogel
This is Alabama, after all. Maybe lynchings are less common there, but vicious and irrational prejudice clearly is not. In the South, Alabama not least, high schools still hold segregated Proms. Some places even have three: a separate one obligatory for latinos.
Eric Ernsberger
I hope the principal dies in the street on her way home tonight
joeyty
@billeetee: Uhhh…that sounds more like New York you’re describing, with Reverend Manning and Rev. Ruben Diaz.
rbernard
I say enlist the ACLU and let them tie the school up till they articulate a reasonable policy for protecting the LGBT kids and one for what happens to school officials who bully them.
John Malin
Drag the bullying, bigoted bitch out of her office and tar and feather he fat butt. Then, put her on top of a box car and send her out of town.
James
There is no “Lindy Gill” there at that school, there is a Wendy Gill.
1EqualityUSA
close enough by queerty standards. At least they got the right state.
1EqualityUSA
I hope these two can pay for law school with the settlement.
Joseph Pasquino
Sue the hell out the school
Kady Hawkins
Bullshit
Jim Philbrick
Lil bitch principal is a bully and should be fired
Kim Chi
This asst principle needs to be removed from her post. Let her go and work at a religious school if she must shove her religious bigotry down other people’s throats.
Dennis Gordon
Sadly not an isolated thing.
Christopher Hayward
Shame on AL .
GG
Every time a bigot gets smacked down for their bigotry, an angel gets its wings.
martinbakman
Sorry, but whatta qunt. Is she some converted ho like that one from Kentucky?
joeyty
@Christopher Hayward: Why ?
David Wold
Amazing!
Barb Kipper
A Civil Rights attorney should be called.
Ben Stimpson
We went through this in Canada back 10 years ago. Marc Hall was a friend of a friend of mine and fought the good fight. The tragedy of absolutely ridiculous and shitty things like this and the selfishness on behalf of the principal is that these two kids aren’t going to get to leave school with the memories of having a great prom, they’re not going to look back on highschool as being flawlessly happy… and all because of one bitter woman’s bigotry. I rarely say this about people but I do hope this woman gets fired for this.
Christopher Michael
Clearly they have some homophobic prick running this school who’s bible got in the way!
Sluggo2007
A devout Baptist? Just more proof that religion is bullshit!
Billysees
@rbernard:
” I say enlist the ACLU and let them tie the school up till they articulate a reasonable policy for protecting the LGBT kids and one for what happens to school officials who bully them. ”
Good suggestion.
@GG:
” Every time a bigot gets smacked down for their bigotry, an angel gets its wings. ”
Hehehe…terrific comment.
ChiChi Man
Suspended for texting his MOTHER???? What kind of fucked up family values is this? The kid did exactly what every kid in crisis should do. And this bullying bigot did what bullies do – humiliate and isolate. If Gill is not fired, the family sue.
Bryguyf69
@ChiChi Man wrote: “Suspended for texting his MOTHER???? What kind of fucked up family values is this? The kid did exactly what every kid in crisis should do.”
===
Exactly. Many NYC schools tried to ban cellphones because they were seen as a distraction (not to mention, a way to cheat, i.e. to email test answer en masse to the next class). But parents argued that it was the only to keep in touch during a crisis, and the phones remained. Unless the boy’s texting was disruptive or interfered with his studies, the Asst Principal’s actions were vindictive, pure and simple. At worst, he should have received a warning, and even that would’ve been excessive.
The ACLU should definitely be consulted. The schools should issue a formal apology and institute an explicit policy of non-discrimination.
Bryguyf69
@Christopher Hayward wrote: “Shame on AL.”
===
There are many reasons Alabama should be ashamed, but this story is about Louisiana. LA, not AL! 🙂
Bryguyf69
@Chris Vogel: No, this took place in Louisiana. not Alabama (LA not AL!). But your point is valid for both states. Homophobia and racism are still rampant in both states, especially in rural areas.
NoCagada
She deserves christian eternal life. KILL HER
Bryguyf69
Tamblie Babin is one heck of a mom. Not only was she not ashamed of her gay son, but she was accepting enough to take their case to the media as well as the school superintendent. Most parents would’ve let it drop after the phone call. In a very real sense, any official change in policy is because of her activism. She is a PFLAG poster mom!
Bryguyf69
@James wrote: “There is no ‘Lindy Gill’ there at that school, there is a Wendy Gill.”
===
Queerty is correct, it’s Lindy Gill. It would have been VERY IRONIC if the offender was Wendy Gill because she’s the Risk Management Coordinator for the schools. In other words, Wendy is the one who instructs schools on how to AVOID LAWSUITS! She would have told Lindy Gill to shut the F up and keep her religion to herself.
CONTACT INFO for Asst Principal Lindy Gill. Make sure to CC Principal Lance Hutson on any complaints.
Email: [email protected]
http://www.oncoursesystems.com/school/webpage/12546089/1177635
Here’s a photo of Lindy Gill:
http://www.livingstonparishnews.com/image_5445b442-d3d0-11e2-8114-0019bb2963f4.html
Bryguyf69
Here is a report from their local ABC affiliate, WBRZ. Living in NYC, I’ve always had this stereotype of Southern media being conservative. This report proves me wrong. Not only are the gay boys treated as normal, but the station actually advocated their case by demanding answers. The fact that they’d even cover such a story is impressive enough. Watch the report to see the impressive mom. And seeing how rural the area is makes me REALLY admire the boys’ bravery. You can bet that the boys and mom will receive threats and ridicule. I don’t think I’d be brave enough to go public, even in New York.
http://www.wbrz.com/news/school-leaders-have-change-of-heart-after-gay-couple-banned-from-prom/
joeyty
@Bryguyf69: NOT ALL southern African-Americans are homophobic, though, but still too large a percentage are to varying degrees). But the same goes for NYC and Detroit, so…(shrugs)
Bryguyf69
@joeyty admonished: “NOT ALL southern African-Americans are homophobic, though, but still too large a percentage are to varying degrees). But the same goes for NYC and Detroit, so…”
===
I agree. My black girlfriend’s parents are from the South, and they’re certainly homophobic. They’re more intrigued and amused by gays than fear or hate them. Heck, they probably thought I was gay when they first met me … lol
As for the interaction between African-Americans and white gays, an interesting factor is economic. Many studies have shown that gays have more disposable income, and many studies have shown that gays tend to enrich, and even save, neighborhoods (see the research by Urban Studies Theorist, Robert Florida. The NY times also had a great article on this). In the last decade, a trend developed where gays buy up dilapidated properties in poor neighborhoods, inhabited mostly by poor African-Americans — aka gentrification. And I’m only half-kidding when I say that gays’ knack for design completely rehabilitate the properties. That drives property values up — way up — pushing its original inhabitants out. Sometimes, gays even take black squatters to court, or otherwise evict those who can’t pay rent. Racial follows, exacerbated by homophobia. For more on this, see the excellent PBS documentary, Flag Wars (oops, almost typed, “Fag Wars”), which I may upload.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Wars
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359281/
Bryguyf69
Oops. forgot to include a link to the official website of Flag Wars, the excellent PBS/POV documentary on the gay [white] gentrification of poor Black neighborhoods and the resulting conflict. See video at link.
http://www.pbs.org/pov/flagwars
honoraryorange
For folks interested in telling her what you think:
[email protected]
Bryguyf69
@Bryguyf69 wrote: “I agree. My black girlfriend’s parents are from the South, and they’re certainly homophobic. They’re more intrigued and amused by gays than fear or hate them. Heck, they probably thought I was gay when they first met me … lol”
=====
Oops, that should haven been, “…and they’re certainly NOT homophobic…”
spemat
I went to my Jr and Sr prom as a group of 4… and movie trope bisexual’d the shit out of them the whole time. I had enough influence to tear that school apart and make life hell there. I was one of the more feared people but I was the leader of the goth clique 75 kids. All of the top dogs of each clique were friends… except for the gay kids, band freaks, music, theatre types. I fist fought with a gang banger type once, a neo nazi another time… I remember kids looking up and trying to wave etc. I was in the top 20 of my class… plus, as a singer, I was at every music festival and made the school look good. I slowdanced and kissed guys and all… but goth people then were feared… even guys in makeup and dresses.