Teen Files Suit Against School District For Anti-Gay Harassment
Posted By Eric Ethington (Author) on December 7, 2010
Tacoma, Washington – A 19 year old has filed a lawsuit against Aberneen School District for allowing constant and threatening anti-gay harassment against him for 4 years. Despite numerous complaints, the school district did nothing to protect him he says.
Good luck and well done to Russell Dickerson the 3rd! Bullying and harassment for sexual orientation are rampant in our schools and we must hold schools and districts accountable if we ever want to stem the tide of suicides and bullying.
The lawsuit alleges that students belittled Dickerson for years, both verbally and physically, and even created a website mocking him. The best the district ever did? Suggest that he dress more manly to stop the harassment, and recommended he not report the bullying because it might push students to bully harder.
Russell Dickerson, III, said students had taunted him with derogatory epithets, spit on him, threw things at him, and created a website that mocked him. Believing he was gay, a student posted in a high school locker room a doctored picture of him kissing a man, he said.
But from 2003 to 2009, while Dickerson attended the district’s junior high and high school, Aberdeen officials did little to stop the harassment, Dickerson and his parents said. The alleged lack of action came in spite of a no-contact court order to keep one of Dickerson’s harassers away from him, the complaint said.
That harasser had allegedly threatened to lynch Dickerson.
“It was like a prison sentence,” the soft-spoken teen said at a news conference in Seattle Tuesday. The conference was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which filed the complaint on his behalf in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.
“I found myself dreading school,” he said.
"Eric, trying to have this (civil rights) conversation with you is ultimately like trying to teach a pig to dance, it just annoys the pig. So Eric, sorry to annoy you."
-Paul Mero, The Sutherland Institute.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gemma Hentsch and No More Lost, Eric Ethington. Eric Ethington said: Teen Files Suit Against School District For Anti-Gay Harassment http://bit.ly/hVE22u #lgbt #teen #bullying [...]
[...] The lawsuit alleges that students belittled Dickerson for years, both verbally and physically, and even created a website mocking him. The best the district ever did? Suggest that he dress more manly to stop the harassment, and recommended he not report the bullying because it might push students to bully harder. Russell Dickerson, III, said students had taunted him with derogatory epithets, spit on him, threw things at him, and created a website that mocked him. Believing he was gay, a student posted in a high school locker room a doctored picture of him kissing a man, he said. But from 2003 to 2009, while Dickerson attended the district’s junior high and high school, Aberdeen officials did little to stop the harassment, Dickerson and his parents said. The alleged lack of action came in spite of a no-contact court order to keep one of Dickerson’s harassers away from him, the complaint said. That harasser had allegedly threatened to lynch Dickerson. “It was like a prison sentence,” the soft-spoken teen said at a news conference in Seattle Tuesday. The conference was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which filed the complaint on his behalf in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. “I found myself dreading school,” he said. Source: prideinutah.com [...]
I would like to point out that Russell lied many times in his interviews and other things were grossly over exaggerated. I worked and went to school with him. Is bullying ever right? No, never. But instead of blaming the school they need to step back and take a look at Russell. He was a bully himself many times. How do I know? Because he bullied me by basically harassing me about my educational decisions. I chose to get my drop out and get my GED. He was also notorious for cutting into others conversations and tell them how they were wrong and that they needed to change their ways.
He also claimed there were no other educational options. Except the other two high schools within a 6 mile radius, home school, online classes, running start, ged or dropping out and immediately pursuing college.