i got a message today from a friend on myspace.com. damnit, i wasn't gonna get addicted to it. oh well.anyway, there was a seventeen-year-old straight student who made a movie loosely based on the oscar-winning film brokeback mountain called brokeback high.
apparently, there is a scene where two males cuddle shirtless. when brandon flyte refused to edit the scene out and subsequently showed it to a class of students, he was expelled. he was sent to a community college to finish his last two months of his senior year.
i believe this is wrong on so many levels.
first, let me say this: if he didn't follow the rules, my opinions might change slightly. but as i investigate this, i'm finding that the problem here is not the student but the film itself and the way school administrators feel about it.
instead of saying men and women are coming out we're having to say boys and girls. there are gay kids in elementary schools these days. middle schools are full of them.
and like brandon, once they make it to high school, even the straight kids who used to bully homosexuals now embrace them. they, again like brandon, even imitate the life as art. why the need to censor such a real thing? i mean come on. did you not see the response to brokeback mountain?
i've e-mailed brandon with my support and also in hopes to get a first-hand account of what is going on. i've included a link here to his myspace page. perhaps if you feel like, send him a message of support.
update: brandon has been allowed to return to school and administrators are now calling this a transfer, not an expulsion. i'm including links for your review.
- brandon's website
- the advocate march 15
- the advocate march 16
also, this is brandon's response to my e-mail:
"I would love nothing more than for gays to be given all the rights and respect that straight people get. I appreciate your support and willingness to promote my story on your website. Hopefully people like us can make a difference." -Brandon
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