Many teenagers stress about finding a date to the school dance, but one Tennessee teen didn’t even have the option. Lance Sanderson, 18, made waves on social media, petitioning for the right to take a same-sex date to Christian Brothers High School’s in Memphis, Tennessee for its homecoming dance after being denied by school officials.
After his cry for help was ignored, Sanderson was suspended for drawing unwanted media attention to the school. To make matters worse, Lakeland commissioner Clark Plunk took to Facebook, blasting Sanderson and the entire gay community, Towleroad reports. According to Towleroad, Plunk posted this hate-driven speech on his private Facebook page.
It’s a Christian school so i you don’t like the rules don’t go there. As usual you have one person trying to change the rules just for himself. I’m told by the alumni the gay kid is looking for publicity. I hate the term gay. It makes them sound like they are happy and ‘Gay’ And they want to call people that criticize them homophobes to make them sound mean. As a whole, gays are mean, cruel spiteful people with an axe to grind.
The kids love the school a hate their school is in the limelight over a gay kid and his gay boyfriend….This is not about a homo and his rights it’s about a school that is loved by thousands and their memories and their right to keep their history and Christian values intact.
I would say let the little homo sue all he wants. The alumni of CBHS will meet him dollar for dollar and lawyer for lawyer. This is a threat to our values, our Christian values. Everyone shudders when the homosexuals say the word sue. They are vicious spiteful people.
Plunk was unapologetic for his comments when asked by WMC Memphis on Sept. 29, defending his right to stand up for his faith.
Sanderson responded to Plunk’s comments as follows, according to Towleroad.
I have been shown a few intolerant comments that were made against myself and other LGBT people. I have nothing but forgiveness for the people who wrote or agree with these comments. I recognize that we all have different beliefs and were taught from varying viewpoints. I hope that individuals and the community as a whole will use this as an opportunity to learn about other people’s beliefs. I know that through education and acceptance, we will move forward as a stronger community.
Local LGBT activists are angered by what these comments mean coming from a public official.
“People that he serves pay his salary, and he’s making these hurtful, just dangerous comments,” Will Batts, the Executive Director of Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center, said to WMC. “Because we know there are plenty of studies that show that this type of speech is what causes harm to young people.”
