crickett003
CAGiversary!
I thought this was an interesting read (long, but interesting).
Wow, if I had gone this route every time someone called me a (homosexual term) in high school, I'd be a rich bastard. Honestly, who hasn't jokingly called another guy a "f--?" I'm as straight as an arrow, but I didn't let stupid crap get to me.
The Kansas City Star
A federal jury on Thursday awarded $250,000 to a Tonganoxie teenager who claimed that years of sexually related taunts deprived him of the opportunity for an education.
Dylan J. Theno, 18, sued the Tonganoxie School District last year, saying its administrators and school officials knew that his classmates had harassed him since seventh grade and did not stop it. His case was heard in Kansas City, Kan.
Students called him derogatory names for a gay man, Theno testified. One student started a rumor in seventh grade that, while not true, followed Theno into high school.
Theno’s attorney, Arthur Benson, said such verdicts are very rare. He said he was unaware of any other verdicts in a same-sex student-on-student harassment case under federal law where a jury found in favor of a student.
Theno, who said during the trial that he is not gay, testified that he dropped out of school the fall of his junior year because the harassment had become unbearable. He later earned a GED and plans to attend a community college in the fall.
School district officials maintained they had responded appropriately and dealt with all the incidents that Theno reported. The harassing students had stopped and Theno stopped reporting further harassment, school officials contended.
School officials also said that Theno had initiated some of the name-calling, had been in fights and brought the harassment upon himself, although they said that did not excuse the other students’ behavior.
As for the derogatory name-calling, the school district contended students often casually called each other by those names. The district contended there was no gender-based discrimination.
Tonganoxie’s attorneys could not be reached for comment after the verdict.
Outside the courthouse, Theno said it was difficult at first to go through with the trial, but he was compelled.
“I wanted my story to be heard,” he said. “It could be happening to some other kid out there and it shouldn’t be. If it is, they now know that something will be done about it.”
Theno’s attorney had asked for $700,000. Theno said it was never about the money, but about doing what he believes is right.
“I hope this wakes people up,” he said. He said he wants school administrators to realize that if a student complains about harassment, they need to take the complaints seriously and do something to stop it.
Benson, of the Kansas City law firm Arthur Benson & Associates, said this was an important case under Title IX of the federal Education Amendments Act of 1972.
He said that for the past 20 years, the law has been used to mainly to end discrimination in athletic programs on the basis of gender.
“Recently, Title IX is being applied to all kinds of educational programs,” Benson said. “School districts have an obligation if they receive any federal money to make sure that nothing in their programs discriminate based on gender.
“That is what this case is about. Dylan Theno was for years called very ugly terms based upon what was the stereotypical expectations of the masculine student and Dylan Theno did not meet those expectations.”
Benson had argued that while the Tonganoxie School District did have a policy protecting students from harassment, it did not enforce it in Theno’s case.
“The right pieces were in place,” Benson told jurors. “This case is about whether the right pieces were utilized.”
Benson said that Theno was small for his age and wore his hair differently than other students, including for a time with a rat-tail.
Theno was one of a few students who participated in tae kwon do, which fueled taunts of “karate girl.”
“It just was getting worse and worse and worse,” Theno testified in court. “The kids kept getting on me.”
Because school administrators didn’t stop the harassment, the name-calling eventually became part of the school’s culture, Benson argued.
Theno testified that he stopped complaining to school administrators because they didn’t do anything. When his parents would intervene with parents of the harassers, school administrators and other school officials, Theno testified, the harassment got worse.
Tonganoxie’s attorney, J. Steven Pigg with the Topeka law firm of Fisher, Patterson, Sayler & Smith, argued in his closing that the name-calling and crude comments were something that not only boys do, but men do too.
“Guys think things are funny that ladies don’t think are funny,” Pigg said. “In the seventh grade that is enhanced. …It just happens. It is just part of the joking and kidding of seventh-grade boys.”
He said the boys didn’t pick on Theno because he lacked typical masculine characteristics. He said they picked on Theno because they didn’t like him.
Pigg also argued that school administrators did address the taunting problems whenever Theno brought it to their attention. A school official testified that he had periodically stopped Theno in the halls to ask if everything was all right. Teachers were told to report any incidents.
But school administrators didn’t suspend the offenders like Theno and his parents had wanted, Pigg told jurors.
Pigg said the district acted appropriately and was not indifferent to Theno’s complaints.
Wow, if I had gone this route every time someone called me a (homosexual term) in high school, I'd be a rich bastard. Honestly, who hasn't jokingly called another guy a "f--?" I'm as straight as an arrow, but I didn't let stupid crap get to me.
The Kansas City Star
A federal jury on Thursday awarded $250,000 to a Tonganoxie teenager who claimed that years of sexually related taunts deprived him of the opportunity for an education.
Dylan J. Theno, 18, sued the Tonganoxie School District last year, saying its administrators and school officials knew that his classmates had harassed him since seventh grade and did not stop it. His case was heard in Kansas City, Kan.
Students called him derogatory names for a gay man, Theno testified. One student started a rumor in seventh grade that, while not true, followed Theno into high school.
Theno’s attorney, Arthur Benson, said such verdicts are very rare. He said he was unaware of any other verdicts in a same-sex student-on-student harassment case under federal law where a jury found in favor of a student.
Theno, who said during the trial that he is not gay, testified that he dropped out of school the fall of his junior year because the harassment had become unbearable. He later earned a GED and plans to attend a community college in the fall.
School district officials maintained they had responded appropriately and dealt with all the incidents that Theno reported. The harassing students had stopped and Theno stopped reporting further harassment, school officials contended.
School officials also said that Theno had initiated some of the name-calling, had been in fights and brought the harassment upon himself, although they said that did not excuse the other students’ behavior.
As for the derogatory name-calling, the school district contended students often casually called each other by those names. The district contended there was no gender-based discrimination.
Tonganoxie’s attorneys could not be reached for comment after the verdict.
Outside the courthouse, Theno said it was difficult at first to go through with the trial, but he was compelled.
“I wanted my story to be heard,” he said. “It could be happening to some other kid out there and it shouldn’t be. If it is, they now know that something will be done about it.”
Theno’s attorney had asked for $700,000. Theno said it was never about the money, but about doing what he believes is right.
“I hope this wakes people up,” he said. He said he wants school administrators to realize that if a student complains about harassment, they need to take the complaints seriously and do something to stop it.
Benson, of the Kansas City law firm Arthur Benson & Associates, said this was an important case under Title IX of the federal Education Amendments Act of 1972.
He said that for the past 20 years, the law has been used to mainly to end discrimination in athletic programs on the basis of gender.
“Recently, Title IX is being applied to all kinds of educational programs,” Benson said. “School districts have an obligation if they receive any federal money to make sure that nothing in their programs discriminate based on gender.
“That is what this case is about. Dylan Theno was for years called very ugly terms based upon what was the stereotypical expectations of the masculine student and Dylan Theno did not meet those expectations.”
Benson had argued that while the Tonganoxie School District did have a policy protecting students from harassment, it did not enforce it in Theno’s case.
“The right pieces were in place,” Benson told jurors. “This case is about whether the right pieces were utilized.”
Benson said that Theno was small for his age and wore his hair differently than other students, including for a time with a rat-tail.
Theno was one of a few students who participated in tae kwon do, which fueled taunts of “karate girl.”
“It just was getting worse and worse and worse,” Theno testified in court. “The kids kept getting on me.”
Because school administrators didn’t stop the harassment, the name-calling eventually became part of the school’s culture, Benson argued.
Theno testified that he stopped complaining to school administrators because they didn’t do anything. When his parents would intervene with parents of the harassers, school administrators and other school officials, Theno testified, the harassment got worse.
Tonganoxie’s attorney, J. Steven Pigg with the Topeka law firm of Fisher, Patterson, Sayler & Smith, argued in his closing that the name-calling and crude comments were something that not only boys do, but men do too.
“Guys think things are funny that ladies don’t think are funny,” Pigg said. “In the seventh grade that is enhanced. …It just happens. It is just part of the joking and kidding of seventh-grade boys.”
He said the boys didn’t pick on Theno because he lacked typical masculine characteristics. He said they picked on Theno because they didn’t like him.
Pigg also argued that school administrators did address the taunting problems whenever Theno brought it to their attention. A school official testified that he had periodically stopped Theno in the halls to ask if everything was all right. Teachers were told to report any incidents.
But school administrators didn’t suspend the offenders like Theno and his parents had wanted, Pigg told jurors.
Pigg said the district acted appropriately and was not indifferent to Theno’s complaints.
ing true. I wish I realized that too. I became really depressed because of the teasing in 8th grade; going to a private high school for 9th grade only and taking Paxil (for some reason) helped. I'm fine now, and my reputation in 9th grade was that I should not be 
