Tehachapi Superintendent Questions American Civil Liberties Union Claims That Seth Walsh Was Egregiously And Relentlessly Harassed

The Bakersfield Californian reports that the Tehachapi Unified Schools District Superintendent, Richard Swanson, has replied to the American Civil Liberties Union demand that the district draft a comprehensive plan to address and combat anti-gay bias, Swanson suggesting that claims made by the ACLU on behalf of Wendy Walsh, the mother of 13 year old Seth Walsh, who committed suicide in September that the openly gay teen’s harassment was egregious and relentless are questionable. “Many of the purported events, which you have advised, are surprising,” Swanson wrote. “I find it difficult to believe that our middle school students threw sandwiches and water bottles at Seth, that he was allowed to be continually threatened in the locker room, or that any student was able to call him a derogatory name in a public setting on school grounds without consequence.” Swanson adds that although not necessarily doubting the authenticity of the ACLU’s evidence, he needs to know who they wrongdoers (or bullies) are so that evidence can be collected, and that “Toward that end, the district will be retaining an investigator to follow up on and verify the allegations made by your correspondence.” The ACLU responded to Swanson, explaining that the superintendent’s promise to punish wrongdoers fails to understand what the civil rights organisation regards as the goal, attorney Elizabeth Gill writing that “our letter describes a widespread climate of anti-gay bias in the district that cannot be addressed simply by disciplining individual students ... Instead ... as our letter explains, such a climate demands comprehensive action on the part of the district that is designed to address the underlying causes of anti-gay bias.”