District sorry for censoring gay kiss

District sorry for censoring gay kiss

By JEFFREY GOLD, Associated Press Writer Mon Jun 25, 4:29 PM ET

NEWARK, N.J. - The school district said Monday it regretted ordering a picture of a male student kissing his boyfriend blacked out from all copies of a high school yearbook and said it apologized to the student.

Andre Jackson, the student, said he was disappointed that the superintendent had not delivered the apology face-to-face and in public. Because of that, he said he didn't accept it as sincere.

"I would accept an apology — a public apology," said Jackson, 18.

Jackson said he learned of the apology through the media.

The district issued a statement Monday saying it regretted the decision and that it would issue an unredacted version of the yearbook to any student of East Side High School who wants one.

"The decision was based, in part, on misinformation that Mr. Jackson was not one of our students and our review simply focused on the suggestive nature of the photograph," the district said.

"Superintendent Marion A. Bolden personally apologizes to Mr. Jackson and regrets any embarrassment and unwanted attention the matter has brought to him."

District spokeswoman Valerie Merritt said Bolden would meet with Jackson on Tuesday.

Jackson said his teachers, classmates and his parents all knew he was gay and that his sexual orientation was never a problem at school.

"I've never had to deal with this before," he said. "It's shocking. It's crazy."

Previously, Bolden had described the picture, which showed Jackson kissing boyfriend David Escobales, as "illicit."

"If it was either heterosexual or gay, it should have been blacked out. It's how they posed for the picture," Bolden told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Saturday's editions.

In the 4 1/2-by-5-inch photo, Jackson is seen turning his head back over his right shoulder and kissing Escobales, 19, of Allentown, Pa. It was blacked out after Russell Garris, the district's assistant superintendent who oversees the city's high schools, told Bolden he was concerned that the photo could upset parents.

The photo was among several that appeared on a special personal tribute page in the yearbook.

Jackson, who paid $150 for the page, noted that the yearbook is filled with pictures of heterosexual couples kissing.

Newark public schools have about 42,000 students, making it the largest district in New Jersey.

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Newark schools: http://www.nps.k12.nj.us/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070625/...rbook_gay_kiss

Do you visit gaynews.com daily?

I told you!

This just in: circumcision rates drop!! It's like.. wtf?

That was my first thought also. But it is f*d up of the school since he paid for it...if they weren't going to allow it in their yearbook they shouldn't have accepted the picture OR the payment.

Homosexuality is just as bad as bestiality.

I thought Kissing was against school rules... HMMM.