Gay teen receives an official apology
posted by Loki on Jun.27.2007 at 12:51 pm
|
He’ll get new book with photo of kiss.
BY KASI ADDISON
Star-Ledger Staff
When Andre Jackson graduates from East Side High School tonight, he’s not only scheduled to get a diploma, but the only copy of the school’s yearbook that doesn’t have black marker scribbled over a picture of him and his boyfriend kissing.
Jostens, the yearbook’s publisher, has agreed to send the copy overnight to Newark Public Schools and Jackson should receive it at the ceremony, said Superintendent Marion Bolden.
Bolden met yesterday afternoon with the 18-year-old for the first time since the controversy un folded.
Their face-to-face meeting followed Bolden’s appearance before East Side’s senior class, where she addressed the incident, which has attracted a national attention and become a cause célèbre for gay and civil rights groups.
It was a difficult day all around, she said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever hurt a child like that,” Bolden said, her voice choked with tears. “Not only did I not intend it but I am trying to make it right.”
Jackson couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday evening.
The embattled schools chief has spent the last few days apologizing for ordering staff to use black marker to blot out Jackson’s picture while leaving those of heterosexual couples untouched.
Bolden said she doesn’t normally review yearbooks, but was quickly shown the page of Jackson kissing boyfriend David Escobales, 19, at a luncheon last Thursday and told it would likely upset parents. The picture appeared on a page in a special tribute section of the book students paid $150 for in addition to the $85 yearbook fee.
After ruling out a proposal to rip the page out completely, Bolden told her staff to black out the 4-by-5 inch photo with marker before distributing it at a senior banquet later that night. She made the call without reviewing the rest of the book and said until earlier this week she hadn’t seen the other photos of heterosexual couples kissing.
Monday Bolden issued a public apology to Jackson but it was more important to speak with him in person, which Bolden said she’d been trying to do since Sunday.
Talking to the other seniors was also important, said Bolden who was accompanied to the school by Dana Rone, Newark’s first openly gay councilwoman.
Speaking out was necessary to ensure other openly gay and lesbian Newark students won’t feel uncomfortable in their schools, Rone said.
Bolden’s decision was the wrong one, but the fact none of the teachers manually blacking out the photo spoke up to say it was unfair is the bigger problem, she said.
“I told the superintendent, it’s offensive, not what you did, but that 50 people had the opportunity to say ‘you got three or four other hetero couples kissing too’ and that was never presented to the superintendent,” she said. “The crisis is not in the children but acceptance of adults.”
Bolden acknowledged homophobia was at the root of the issue, because only Jackson’s photo was signaled out and brought to her attention.
“We’ve been so focused on our kids having tolerance and acceptance, the focus hasn’t been on the staff,” she said. “We have to do both.”
Steven Goldstein, who heads of gay-rights group Garden State Equality, said Bolden has done much to repair the damage caused by her actions. He is one of many gay and civil rights activists who rallied to Jackson’s side.
“When somebody does something wrong and shows growth, you accept it with outstretched hands,” he said.
Bolden’s decision to meet on a regular basis, at least four times a year, with a task force being formed to address issues in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersexed community is also ap preciated, Goldstein added.
In addition to getting Jackson a new yearbook, photocopies of the picture will be distributed at graduation, Bolden said, and new yearbooks should arrive in five to six weeks.
Kasi Addison may be reached at kaddison@starledger.com or at (973) 392-4154.