EDITOR’S NOTE: The original version of this post wrong stated that Mr. Buell had been fired. The teacher is currently suspended and has not been terminated.
After seeing a CNN story about New York marriage equality on TV, former Mount Dora High School Teacher of the Year Jerry Buell posted a Facebook comment about how the “sin[ful]” “cesspool” made him “nearly vomit.” Now the school has suspended him and The American Civil Liberties Union has joined the ultra-conservative Liberty Counsel to defend Mr. Buell. The school’s stupid over-reaction has forced me to write something I never thought I would: I agree with the Liberty Counsel.
The school district’s code of ethics prohibits “unbecoming” behavior that “disrupts the orderly processes of the district,” or denies the “worth and dignity of every person.” Yes, the sinful sight of two men kissing makes Mr. Buell wanna throw up his dinner, but the record so far shows him to be an exemplary educator who has never devalued any student. At this moment we do not know if he is Facebook friends with any of his students or whether his page was visible to the general public.
We do know that right now there are a few Facebook campaigns to get him reinstated and two colorfully named ones to keep him fired including, “Jerry Buell is so twisted ‘I think I may vomit’ and ‘Fire the Gay-Bashing Rat Jerry Buell.’
How about we take this to the next level?
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We should all oppose the school’s decision because it just as easily could apply to us. Think of it this way. You’re a teacher. You see a CNN story about a religious protest against gay marriage. It pisses you off. You get on Facebook and write “The Baptists and Catholics make wanna puke. When did this cesspool of hate and bigotry become publicly acceptable?” Then, the Baptist and Catholic members of your community complain and the school suspends you with the possibility of firing you.
You don’t bother asking which students are religious or not. Yeah, some of them might wear crosses or carry bibles or attend the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, but you don’t actually care because you don’t let your personal viewpoint effect your teaching or care of students.
How do you feel about it now?
Jordan
Completely agree. He kept his views out of the classroom and never let it affect his teaching, so I don’t see why they felt it necessary to fire him. Overreacting and pandering.
Lefty
They shouldn’t have fired him because he’s homophobic, they should have fired him because he’s clearly a fucktard and the students deserve better.
christopher di spirito
What a dope.
A high school teacher, of all people, should know better than to use social media to express his disdain for marriage equality or, any other issue.
When you teach, you keep your views to yourself, your spouse and friends. You don’t broadcast them on Facebook.
Scott Rose
This post is incorrect. Buell has not been fired; he was reassigned to an administrative post while he is being investigated. At this link, shocking allegations from a former Buell student who says he was gay-bashed in Buell’s classroom:
http://tinyurl.com/3vwy9f8
ewe
Bullshit. If he said anything like that against african american children his ass would have been canned and the ACLU would not be there either. To be religious is a belief system. To be gay or a person of color is who you are. This is homophobia being defended and promoted in the name of polical correctness. If a male teacher said he wanted to puke because of females being females he would be fired. this is Complete Bullshit.
Little Kiwi
This is not overreacting, and you gay wimps who think it is is need to get your heads reexamined.
An unrepentant anti-black racist would be reprimanded and removed from his teaching position. Immediately. An unrepentant anti-Semite would be reprimanded and removed from his teaching position. Immediately.
His freedom of speech was not infringed upon. He was not thrown in jail. he’s paying the price for the SPECIFICITIES of what he chose to say.
Would you let a proud anti-black bigot teach children American History? Why, then, is an unrepentant anti-gay bigot allowed to teach SOCIAL STUDIES?? He needs to take a social studies class, or twenty, and not teach one.
The writer of this piece has no intellectually discerning concept of NUANCE. At all. The “Christian/Catholic” analogy? Intellectually invalid. Those comments would be a response to specific bigotry, not a bigoted response to EQUALITY.
believe it or not, there’s a difference.
Do you know why LGBT Equality in America is more than 20 years behind Canada? Because far too many LGBT Americans, clearly, have the same mental block as the writer of this piece. You can’t discern. You can’t pick up nuance.
This is not a case of ‘saying something someone doesn’t like’, but the specificities of what was said, and the ramifications about what that says about a person, and the message it sends to others in their community and indeed their students.
You cannot say “oh, well, what if a teacher guys fired for saying something Pro-GAY?” that’s one of the stupid arguments braindead gays have been saying in the last few days. Utter bollocks. If you cannot tell the difference between making a pro-Equality statement that unequivocally harms no one and a bigoted one borne out of prejudice then you’re a complete idiot.
We would indeed fire a teacher of history for being exposed as an unrepentant anti-black racist. These same standards apply. You guys who think this is an overreaction are the reason LGBT Equality is taking so fucking long to become a reality in America – your process of intellectual discernment is woefully underdeveloped.
ewe
Today is August 24, 2011. Does anyone know whether or not the Bummer has evolved yet?
Jakey
Eh, I don’t know. It’s pretty easy to see how this violates the school’s code of ethics, and if that’s what the code is, there you go. I doesn’t matter whether he singled out a particular student and said they, Student X, made him want to puke. By saying this, he is talking about his own students, to his own students. And it’s certainly been disruptive.
andy
Hope he is fired! Public school teachers and all teachers for that matter need to be held to a higher standard. This type of clause has been used to fire many teachers in the past for advertising in gay personal adds and I’m glad to hear the tide has turned and now homophobia is considered unacceptable!
christopher di spirito
@ewe: O-Bummer evolved backward. He was pro-marriage equality back in Chicago. As president, “teh gays” are are a thorn in his side.
paul f
@ewe: Yes, progress is being made. His flippers are hands and feet now. Now please stop asking this inane question constantly every post every day.
Scott Rose
Jerry Buell’s Mount Dora High School is dominated by brainwashed gay-bashing zombies for Jesus. The zombies want to maintain their gay-bashing status quo. Buell is the faculty advisor for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes; its members co…ntract has signers swear they will abstain from homosexuality for life. Just imagine what would happen if students at Mount Dora High were to start a gay atheists club whose members contract asked them to abstain from Christianity for life. The school doesn’t even have a gay-straight alliance (which is never a Christian religious organization, all are welcome, so long as they are accepting of gay human beings). Mount Dora, furthermore, has no PFLAG. When Buell’s supporters say they are supporting his “freedom of speech,” what they really mean is that they are supporting his collaboration with them to keep Mount Dora High School dominated by brainwashed gay-bashing zombies for Jesus.
Scott Rose
One of Buell’s former students alleges that Buell was asked in class if he thought gays should serve in the military. Buell reportedly said yes, at the front line, with the heterosexual soldiers deserting them from behind. The student making this allegation says that multiple witnesses from the classroom that day are will to come forward to say that yes, Buell said this in class.
Little Kiwi
And yet…..Obama still remains the most Pro-LGBT President in the history of the United States of America.
whenever people can’t acknowledge that they show that the racism handed down from their parents is very much alive.
We’re all disappointed, but let’s not be fucking idiots, eh? Disappointment or not, bummer or not, President Obama remains the MOST pro-LGBT President in the history of this country. Do you guys really not think he has a roll-out plan for LGBT Equality? REALLY? You don’t think he knows how history will play out, how history will paint him, and how he can utterly ensure a canonized role in American History as a vanguard and champion for Civil Rights?
This country’s anti-gay bigotry is astonishing in its scope. Obama knows this. Self-aware gays know this. I think it’s more than obvious that he’s going to have “awakenings” or ‘realizations’ in Term Two. I understand it, i don’t like it or ACCEPT it, but i do understand it.
I’ll eat my shoe if term two for Obama does not include a massive leap forward in federal LGBT Equality.
incidentally, this story is about a teacher in Florida. Gotta love how “ewe” once again turns it into a bitchfest about Obama…
ajax
Didn’t Sean Loftis (http://www.queerty.com/sexiest-math-teacher-in-the-world-fired-for-appearing-in-mo-bubble-butt-and-humping-iron-20110823/) just get fired for the same reason? Where’s the hottie’s knight in shinging ACLU armor?
Cam
Queerty SAid…”We should all oppose the school’s decision because it just as easily could apply to us. Think of it this way. You’re a teacher. You see a CNN story about a religious protest against gay marriage. It pisses you off. You get on Facebook and write “The Baptists and Catholics make wanna puke. ”
_____________________________________
This is the height of idiocy! It is like saying “Oh gee, we shouldn’t arrest anybody for assault or rape, because, gee, you might assault or rape somebody one day.
This guy went out and let it be known to a segment of the public that he hates and is disgusted by a group of people in this country some of whom he may be teaching. He also gave bigoted students in his class his implicit permission to bully those kids.
Have the writers for Queerty got a case of severe battered wife syndrome when it comes to defending themselves?
Little Kiwi
Amen, Cam. I’m stunned by Queerty’s stance on this issue. It takes a profound lack of intellectual muscle to understand the difference between bigoted comments directed at a group and a response TO bigoted comments made by specific groups.
what next, Queerty telling us to tolerate the intolerance of the KKK because it’s intolerant to not tolerate their intolerance?
Sorry, some of us have brains that function and can see past such nonsense.
This is not a “freedom of speech” issue. It would be one if he was thrown in jail for what he said. What’s happening to him now is just logical.
He SHOULD lose his job. Just as an unrepentant racist should, and would.
Becky Rose
I do agree with you Daniel, it is on the surface an over-reaction, however…
Step aside from the fight for equality and the fact that this is an over-reaction and what you have to ask yourself is, if this man was my employee would I want to work with him? If the head felt that the mans disgraceful position on social ethics made the social interaction of the workplace uncomfortable for other staff then they where absolutely bang on to get rid of him and find someone without extremist views [I define preaching messages of hate in a public forum to be an act of extremism, vis a vie he is an extremist].
However the main question in my mind, on whether this is right or wrong in the overall scheme of things, is whether he has any current or former students on his facebook.
The school found out about this so I’d suggest it’s possible, although the lack of journalism and ballance in the reporting makes it impossible to discern the truth – but this is the most important question.
Teachers personal views ARE influential, and so the most critical question is whether he has students or former students on his facebook friends list. The answer to this question decides whether the act of firing him was right or wrong – irrespective of whether his position within the TEAM was tennable or not.
Scott Rose
The ACLU of Florida routinely throws LGBT students in Florida under the equality bus to run them over with it. Whever it intervenes, allegedly on a gay-bashed student’s behalf, the gay student winds up isolated from the school and the gay-basher is left in the school community, unpunished to gay bash again.
JAW
Interesting posts… First, I do NOT like what he said; But I agree that he has a right to say it on his own time.
I read some interesting comments on here which I am not sure can be proven…
In post 12… Scott mentioned that there is no G/SSA, No PFLAG, and that the school is loaded with anti-gay zombies for Jesus… I did a google and could not find any info showing any info that the school denied the gay groups a right to meet. Did I miss something?
In post 13 Scott again mentioned that the Teacher called the straight members of military cowards… He said that the straight soldiers were deserters… I doubt that happened… perhaps something was misstated
If this school were so anti-gay, I doubt that they would have pulled him from teaching and would have just said something like… Mr Buell has been a teacher here for 26 years… and indeed was voted Teacher of the year… We stand behind him.
People come on Queerty and other blogs and make some outrageous statements that make what he said pretty tame. The reason people say outrageous statements is because we hide our names here. Facebook and even You Tube are loaded with all kinds of stuff that can get people fired and perhaps arrested.
If a gay student has Mr Buell in class, he now knows what he has to deal with. If the teacher makes anti gay comments, then the student should report him
Skeloric
Basically, the problem is the story’s writer.
The writer tends toward wholly inaccurate titles for his stories followed by inaccuracies throughout the story itself.
If you have a problem with a story, look to see who the writer is.
You might see a pattern forming.
Riker
I understand the argument the ACLU is making. However, it isn’t really a free speech issue. If he said he almost vomited the night Obama was elected, that would be fine. Insulting to many liberals, but fine.
Here, he actively degraded his gay students and implied that they weren’t worthy of equality under the law or even basic human decency. THAT is not fine. He should be terminated immediately.
Little Kiwi
Riker – clone yourself. Those who are defending this as “free speech” (when it’s NOT) please try to be more like Riker.
Jessica Naomi
This is the Code of Ethics Florida teachers are required to follow to keep their certification http://www.fldoe.org/edstandards/code_of_ethics.asp.
Ryan Nix
He doesn’t get the difference between public speech and corporate speech. I’ve been bound to the same kind of contract with an employer, they could fire me at anytime for any action or words away from work that they feel was in appropriate. Those kind of contracts are always in favor of the company and you forfeit speech rights under those contract by an act of will and a signature.
the crustybastard
Naturally the instructor has a right to express any odious viewpoint he likes. The Constitution guarantees his right to be an appalling bigot and say atrocious things about people he doesn’t know. Indeed, he did express his odious and bigoted opinions, and the government didn’t stop him or censor him.
He’s now insisting he has some special right to be immune from the consequences of his constitutionally protected expression. He has no such right.
I’d bet Mr. Buell has even taught his students that actions have consequences.
Steve
This is not a free speech issue.
Didn’t we just run a story about a porn-star-turned-math-teacher who was fired because of his, um, unprofessional behavior? If so, then what do you call making a remark like this?
Look, everyone has a right to free speech – I’m not arguing that. HOWEVER, Mr. Buell made a public comment on a very heated issue. This comment could have a damaging impact on any students who saw that comment.
Think of it this way, if you were a gay student who read that comment, you would feel incredibly uncomfortable having Mr. Buell as a teacher this coming year, wouldn’t you?
The point is, his comments over the internet can be read by anybody. Gay students, or students who have pro-gay attitudes, are placed into an us-vs.-them mentality because Mr. Buell decided to make his views public. Any professional working in a government job or a job so closely related to our diverse public should keep their personal views to themselves (unless an individual wishes to hear that opinion in a more private setting) – anything less only creates an uncomfortable situation, not just for Mr. Buell, but also for his prospective and former students.
Mk_Ultra_Again
Funny, even kids are taught to be careful what they say and do on the internet. Yet many are willing to give this adult a pass for his poor judgement. What happened to personal responsibility? You know, actions have consequences. From what I understand, the government has not tried to censor him or put him in jail for what he said so first amendment has no place in this discussion. It’s actually a red herring here.
If you post drunken, scandalous pictures of yourself on your facebook, your employer can terminate your employment. It’s their right.
Same if you say racist or anti-semetic things – hello Rick “the Jews control the world” Sanchez.
So why when it comes to anti-gay things, people are so willing to play apologist for this guy? He has a right to say what he wants. He was mistaken in the medium he chose to use – a public, yes public!- social networking site.
To move him to administrative duties was appropriate.
Daez
He absolutely deserves to be reprimanded for the comments. I’m not sure if termination is the right reprimand. However, if this is the attitude he has towards gays on Facebook, I would hate to be one of his students.
Little Kiwi
why don’t more of you undestand that this is not an issue of “saying something we don’t like” and utterly an issue of saying something that is going to make for a tense environment for LGBT students in this school?
it’s not that “we gay people don’t like it but if we get him fired then we’ll be fired for saying things that other’s done like.”
it’s not that AT ALL.
this is not a case of ‘not liking’ anything. his words will indeed create tension for gay students. it will indeed empower anti-gay students to take pride in their bigotry. try to be discerning, it’s not about free speech it’s about specific speech that puts others in the line of fire.
Henry
@Daez: He’s not the only anti-gay teacher who deserves to be terminated.
Jimmy Fury
First and foremost he broke the school districts rules. End of story. He broke the rules and should be punished accordingly no matter who it was he was talking about.
As others have pointed out. If this had been ANY other minority, even women, his ass would have been fired and nobody would have defended him. But he said it about gays and we’re being force fed this bullshit notion that hating gays is somehow a totally defensible subjective opinion. Now it’s even being fed to us by the ACLU and a gay blog.
The Student code of conduct for the county notes time and again that its rules also apply to faculty and staff. It has a massive bullying clause that specifically says,
“This policy also applies to activities that take place off-campus if the activities cause emotional distress to an individual that substantially disrupts or interferes with the operation of a school or an individual student’s ability to receive an education.”
If students can get in trouble for it then who in their right mind can argue that teachers shouldn’t be held to the same standard?
Little Kiwi
Thank you J Fury.
Mark
Here’s my position- he should not be reprimanded, but I’m kind of glad he is going to be. I don’t think ANYBODY should be fired because of something they said on their private Facebook (as long as it isn’t threatening or slanderous). With that being said, if he said something like this about racial or ethnic minorities, women, or religious minorities, he WOULD be reprimanded. So while I don’t think anybody should be reprimanded for something like this, I at least want him to be treated the same way someone who made a racist rant would be treated. I hope that makes sense….
ewe
@christopher di spirito: seems to be true what you say.
ewe
@paul f: and would you please kindly shut up and then die. thanks. Did i just say that? Yes.
ewe
@Riker: Your sentiment is exactly what i think are the facts. It is not an opinion he is expressing about a politician. He is a danger to his own students.
ewe
@Mark: Mark, saying gay people are not worthy of equality is slanderous. Gay people should not feel the need to be defensive when it is someone else making those assinine statements. the person or group should be made to defend their statements that promote hatred and inequality and disregard for certain people they put out there as an open target.
ewe
Dear ACLU:
I and the collective “we” can boycott your agency just as easily as one does Macys, Target and Bolthouse Juices.
Tony Renna
i agree hes an ass plain and simple , i have no sypathy for the biggoted teacher, what he said was dicriminatory and offensive to all of the lgbt community , and the investigation should find him un fit to teach period ……….
FM
The school firing him would just be proof of the double standard bigotry practiced by schools. If he had made his comments about Christians, he’d have been praised. Heck, he’d be encouraged to express those views in the classroom, calling Christians all sorts of wicked names.
This is the guy’s personal Facebook. Clearly, he’s a well-liked teacher. IMO, firing him is just proof that they are the intolerant bigots, and not him. If they don’t like what he has to say on his OWN FB account, don’t read it. Ethics violation my ass!
Not everyone needs to be a cheerleader for the gays. He said what he said on his own time, outside of the classroom. He didn’t target any of his students with his remarks.
xander
He didn’t break a law, but he did violate the school policy (and likely the FL Code of ethics, too) as far as I can tell. I can’t come close to understanding why the ACLU would be involved, especially since his ‘free-speech rights’ weren’t impinged on [and commenters above seem to agree].
As long as the school follows their own policy to the letter in the disciplinary process, it’s not a civil rights issue per se.
Watch the right-wing pundits spin this into a ‘special rights’ debate. Watch Thomas Jefferson spin in his tomb, too.
Mark
@ewe: No, it’s not slander. It’s bigoted BS, but slander involves deliberately lying to induce harm. There is nothing “factual” about supporting gay rights. He’s an bigoted asshat, but his opinion (as wrong as it is) is an opinion and is protected speech. If he said this in the classroom it would be an entirely different issue and I would consider that a fireable offense.
absolved
The Gay mafia strikes again. He has a right to voice his opinion on his own time and in his own space. Save that “think of the children” crap, this wasn’t said while he was at work. This thin-skinned overzealousness over what people can’t say is going to create a backlash against gays and liberals.
Riker
Now that I think about it further, there may actually be a legitimate free speech complaint here. He doesn’t work for a privately-owned company, he works for a public school. Under law, public schools (or at least their administration/school board) are seen as government agencies since they accept public tax money. With the decision to suspend and/or terminate him likely made by the school board, there could be a legal argument made that his first amendment rights are being impinged, because the government is retaliating against him because of his speech.
That said, I still think dismissing him is the right decision. In a legal grey area like this, it is better to err on the side of protecting students who may feel threatened in his class.
The Indomitable Z
What happened to just chastising someone behind closed doors for their poor judgement?
David Ehrenstein
@absolved: No he doesn’t.
Mav
@Little Kiwi: Before Obama became president, I could not openly serve. I could not marry in as many states as I can now (granted, I can’t get married in my HOME state, but it’s Alabama, so I ain’t holding my breath). I completely agree with you that he is by-far the most pro-LGBT president this country has ever seen, and he’s got my vote for next term too.
@Mark: So he can say it to over 700 of his “friends”, but he can’t say it in a room of ten people? Which is the more public space? Where does he have room to do the most damage?
@The Indomitable Z: People will get that right when they leave their poor judgement behind closed doors. See the half of the South that is still ridiculously racist, but for the most part leave their bigoted bullshit for private conversation whispered behind hands because the Civil Rights era is over and racism is no longer socially acceptable on the street.
People who are still prejudiced against gay people need to suck it up and get with the same program we already handed out to people against racial discrimination, against religious discrimination, against discrimination based on any immutable aspect of one’s selfhood.
If those people still have something against “the queers”, they need to leave their snarlings for their own home where THEIR children can chastise them for their outdated views. Apparently gay rights is this generation’s “cause du jour”, so good luck passing on that hateful perspective to your kids, folks.
If a teacher is so against gays as to make comments like this, he should be removed from his position because statistically 10% of his classes are gay, and those kids do not deserve to be talked down to by someone who is supposed to be a source of guidance in their lives.
Even if my kid was straight, I would not want Buell teaching him after making comments like this on Facebook. Not because I don’t want my kid taught by a bigot, but because I don’t want my kid taught by an idiot who doesn’t understand the difference between a public and private forum.
Carl
Stop comparing being gay to race. Two completely different things that are not at all comparable.
Alex
We need to remember that freedom of speech exists to protect people of all opinions, no matter how asinine they are. Also on some level, suspending this guy will only get the Christ-tards even more fired up. Evangelical preachers will go on preaching their usual message that our government is against them, and then pass out the offering plate. I’m sure this will also convince many people to donate their money to homophobic groups such as NOM and Focus on the family.
First they came for homophobic fucktards…and then they came for me.
Sebizzar
@Little Kiwi: This.
Anonymous
Yeah… If he had said that a white man and a black woman getting married makes him want to throw up and that why would white marriages be put in that cesspool, he’d be in jail… I hope he gets fired.