It was a class assignment, but two students took this idea to a whole different level. Sure, they made their statement, but the school administration was not nearly as sanguine about their actions.
November 16, 2003 -- Two Maryland high school girls who locked lips in school to protest homophobia are paying a big price: two-day suspensions.
Senior Katherine Pecore and junior Stephanie Haaser staged their kiss in the middle of lunch at River Hill HS in Clarksville over a week ago.
"It wasn't an affection thing. It was really just a statement," said Pecore, 17.
Haaser's English teacher had asked his students to perform a "nonconformist act" as part of a section on Transcendentalist authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
Most students opted for little indiscretions - eating cereal at lunch, for example, or calling teachers by their first names. But Haaser, 17, cooked up something bigger.
The two girls climbed on top of a lunch table and shouted, "End homophobia now!"
Then the girls, both of whom describe themselves as heterosexual, made out. Estimates for the length of the kiss range from 10 to 15 seconds.
"It was full on," Pecore said. "It was intense."
There was stunned silence in the crowded cafeteria at first. But soon staff and students at River Hill could talk about little else.
Both girls, who are top students, were quickly suspended.
Sadly, both girls quickly learned perhaps the most important lesson: that true nonconformism often comes with a pricetag attached. I applaud the girls for having the courage of their convictions, as well as the courage to make their statement in a manner and place that would make the greatest impact possible. Whether it was a kiss between two girls or another act of protest, these girls decided to make a statement. They did so knowing full well that there was a very high likelihood that it would not be universally well received.
So, what do you think people will be remembering at their 20th reunion??
Somewhere, I can't help but thinking that Emerson and Thoreau are smiling....
