Georgia teacher says she was pushed to resign after coming out to student
A teacher was pushed to resign after coming out as gay (stock image via Getty Images)
An educator in Georgia has claimed that she was essentially forced out of her job after telling a student she is gay.
Cameryn Lovett, who worked as a special education paraprofessional at Mulberry Creek Elementary School in Harris County, told ABC affiliate WTVM that she had brought up being gay in an attempt to challenge anti-LGBTQ+ remarks.
She reportedly shared her orientation when the fourth-grade student spoke “badly about gay people” while waiting to be picked up after school.
“He was talking badly about gay people,” Lovett told WTVM on 8 April. “He was saying he didn’t know any gay people because they are bad and stuff like that, so I was like you do know a gay person. He let me know he wasn’t very happy to hear that.”
Lovett explained that she told the student she was gay as a way of turning the comments into a “teaching moment”. However, she alleged that the school administrators believed that the topic of conversation was inappropriate and gave her an ultimatum.
‘I feel like I was duped a little bit’
“The woman from HR told me it will look better for your next job and for job applications if you resign,” Lovett said.
“So, I agreed. I said I would resign and then in leaving I find out that prevents me from taking any kind of action. I can’t get unemployment, or anything like that. I feel like I was duped a little bit.”
Attorney Borquaye Thomas of The Teachers Lawyer LLC shared with WTVM that resigning was not the best move on Lovett’s part, as it meant that she forfeited a hearing which could lead to difficulties finding another job in the future.
Lovett shared that she thinks the situation is “unfair”, and believes that a straight person would not have faced an investigation for the same conversation.
“I’m not the only gay person that works in the Harris County school district; there are kids growing up in that school district that are gay,” she said. “I’m someone that a lot of kids looked up to. All I tell them is speak up for yourself and be true to yourself but now, they don’t know if they can trust the school.”
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