A principal at a school for students
with learning disabilities has been suspended after he posted
anti-gay comments on Facebook.
Steve Kenney, the principal at Center
Academy in Pinellas Park, Florida, responded to a photo on Facebook of
Outsports co-founder Cyd Zeigler kissing his partner with
“sick” and two Bible passages, including one from Leviticus 20:13
which calls for gay men to be put to death. The passages were taken
from the New Living Translation (NLT) Bible, which was first
published in 1996.
Zeigler posted the photo soon after a
lone gunman targeted a gay nightclub in Orlando, the Pulse.
Forty-nine people died and dozens were wounded in the attack.
“How particularly ugly and horrifying
that someone who works with a more vulnerable population, who are so
prone to face additional challenges to having a happy and fulfilling
life, would do this,” GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard told
Outsports.
According to gay glossy The
Advocate, Center Academy has suspended Kenney for 2 weeks
without pay and has ordered him to attend diversity training and
professional counseling.
“Further, in making every effort to
ensure this situation does not occur again with any employee of our
school, we will conduct mandatory, school-wide diversity training
this August (and annually moving forward) at each of our campuses,”
Center Academy CEO Andrew Hicks said in a statement. “This is in
addition to our yearly Code of Ethics and non-discrimination and
social media policy reviews and updates held each August before
school begins.”