School censored report on gay teens club


School students were forced to leave a blank space on the editorial page of their school newspaper after the school's principal ordered teachers to remove two opinion pieces about a new club for straight and gay teens.

Kendall Johnson, the principal of Berkmar High School in Lilburn, Georgia, argued that the editorials would disturb students during exam time. A spokeswoman said the item was "inflammatory in nature and could be disruptive". The paper, called The Liberty, debated whether a student club - the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Society - should meet on school grounds. Liberty editor L'Anita Weiler, 18, and student copy editor Kelly Shaul, 17, distributed copies of the editorials to Berkmar students after the paper was published in December. "We wanted to run a censored stamp on the page. But Mr. Johnson censored our 'censored' stamp, which is pointless," Shaul said.