Fal Asrani, the principal of Corona del Mar High School who canceled their production of RENT due to homosexual content, has been known to show tolerance toward overtly violent anti-gay hate speech. In January three senior boys posted a public Facebook video calling for the rape and murder of a lesbian student. The several minute long video is especially shocking for the humor the boys find in their threats.
The horrified parents of the girl quickly notified the school's administration of the video and were deeply troubled at their response. The boys were suspended for five days. Earlier in the school year, these boys were suspended for two months for “streaking.” Apparently Asrani believes that seeing someone's bare butt is vastly worse than threats of murder and rape. Go figure.
The girl's parents sent an e-mail to Asrani expressing their regret at RENT's cancellation:
...your administration has sent a clear message that threatening sexual violence is a minor offense punishable by 5 days of suspension (though "streaking" is punishable by two months of suspension); that "gay bashing" (as was depicted throughout the Facebook video) is also merely a minor infraction and one that the school will not acknowledge (and thereby tacitly endorses); and that any attempt by the school community to address these issues in a positive and thoughtful way--a way that would encourage dialogue and understanding (i.e. producing a play like RENT), will be soundly squashed. The gay students who daily brave CDMHS, along with the young women who endure all forms of sexual harassment while you look the other way, deserve more from their school's administration.
Ronald Martin, the school's drama teacher, wrote me, “I knew that there was an increase in hate language and I wanted to do something before it got too far out of hand.” He had a meeting with the parents of everyone in the cast and they agreed to let their children perform.
Asrani now wants the students to perform You're A Good Man Charlie Brown instead of RENT. But, the members of the RENT cast that I've been in contact with haven't given up yet. They intend to push the issue, as they should.
Join the SAVE RENT group on Facebook.
(Correction- The girl in the video that the three boys suggest should be raped and murdered is not actually a lesbian. She is very involved in the drama program and has many gay friends. Several of whom the boys mock in the video.)
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joey jones, max haase, and noah molnar are the boys in the picture
ReplyDeleteNoah Molnar has signed a letter of intent to play lacrosse at Lehigh University in the fall. I wonder if they've seen a copy of this video?
ReplyDeleteAnyone know what the other two have planned?
None of them were suspended for streaking, completely different kids you are talking about there.
ReplyDeleteFal suspended Rent because she wanted to see the script first, and Mr. Martin failed to show her. She believe's all the prostitution in the play is innapropriate for high schoolers and 7th and 8th graders. Seems fair to me.
The girl goes to my school and gets around with most of the boys.. she is NOT a lesbian. lets get the story straight.
ReplyDeleteNOT completely different kids. First, they are close friends and run in the same clique. Second, the 4th boy, not in the picture, IS involved in this. He was suspended for streaking and subsequently for threats to this girl as a result of the video. The incidents ARE connected.
ReplyDeleteRequiring a script is reasonable as is potentially altering content to fit a young audience. What is not appropriate is telling the students to "keep this out of the media" and she will let the play happen or telling the drama teacher that gay characters are unacceptable.
It is not okay to punish some kids harshly for less severe actions and let others off lightly in serious matters. That happens consistently here at CDM.
The few boys involved that actually have the prospect of college on the horizon should be worried about what the colleges will think. The others, well I think we all know the most they can hope for is junior college anyway.
does anyone have the actual video post. i am a student at cdm and im just curious of what they said because we have just figured out what has happened.
ReplyDeleteThe girl does not "get around" with anyone at all. She is new to the school and her only "crime" is being pretty and therefore a "threat" to other girls and a "conquest" for neanderthal guys like this. These kinds of comments only illustrate how horrible it is to be a female at this school and how the good ol double standard is alive and well. NOTHING that any girl (or guy) could EVER do warrants being threatened in this way!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe video and other stuff can be viewed here: http://www.visuality.org/coronadelmarhigh/
ReplyDeletemy name was mentioned in the video, the part about one of their friends and his intent to have sex with my girlfriend at the time. and when dutch says, hey CDM football, you're my boy." and when Noah says, "and CDM lacrosse. but hey, you're a cool kid, i like you." thats referring to me. and i kept my mouth shut through that whole mess. They definitely didn't need any more problems than they already had.
ReplyDeletePeople make mistakes. Get a life rtards
ReplyDelete