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Young couples holding hands in the hallway seems to be a normal part of high school life, including, according to students, at Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach. Though, a lesbian student says that the principal specifically reprimanded her for holding hands with her girlfriend only because she was gay. The principal even threatened the couple with suspension, and inadvertently outed one of the girls to her mother.
“We were holding hands, and our principal came behind us on the little [golf] cart, and he pulled our hands away and said, ‘There’s no holding hands around here,'” the 17-year-old student told WSVN.
She maintains that many straight couples engage in some light PDA in the halls and never face consequences and are certainly never threatened with suspension.
“He gave us a speech and then separated us before calling our parents, which was wrong,” the other student told The South Florida Times. “My mother already knew but my friend’s mom didn’t know she is into girls.”
The principal’s action directly lead to outing the girl to her parents, but thankfully the mother was accepting.
“Sometimes, it’s kind of hard to accept certain things,” the mother tells WSVN. “Even for me, it’s been very hard, but she is my daughter. She’s not going to feel left out.”
Though her mother thinks that the principal only decided to enforce the rule because the couple was gay.
The Broward School District says the principal is allowed to enforce such rules but did not address whether or not he may be applying the rule selectively.
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