https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2024/02/26/keller-high-school-cancels-the-laramie-project-a-play-about-gay-students-murder

Remember the goal is to remove anything positive about gays / trans kids, to remove any anti-bullying programs, with the goal of wiping out LGBTQIA visibility in society.   That will lead back to the horrible abuse of kids who are different as in the past.  We have to find a way to stop this.   Remember this is the same school that had the fundamentalist religious person on the board sneak a religious film crew in to take video and interview students.   Please look at the actions the board / school districts have taken against LGBTQIA students.  The effort was described below by one person interviewed, but to put it in my own words, they want to roll back all advances in acceptance, tolerance, and equality of anyone who is not straight and cis.  To remove all protections for kids who are different, who might be LGBTQIA, or not straight or not cis.   It is to enshrine church views / doctrines into rules and laws.  Return society to what as allowed in the 1950s, which these people feel makes go happy because it makes them feel happy, good, and important.    Hugs.  Scottie

“What I see driving it now is an ugly push to deny LGBTQ rights and identity that, in some states, is being enshrined in law,” he said.

The Keller ISD school board recently passed policies decried as discriminatory to LGBTQ students.

By Talia Richman

3:48 PM on Feb 26, 2024 CST

LISTEN

 

A Keller high school production of The Laramie Project — a play about the aftermath of the 1998 murder of a gay student in Wyoming — was canceled.

Timber Creek High School parents received an email Friday night saying that students would no longer perform the show this spring. The email did not provide an explanation.

Community members are now rallying to reinstate the production, launching an online petition that has received more than 1,300 signatures so far.

“This play is a poignant depiction of queer history,” the petition reads. “By banning this play, we are not only suppressing an important piece of history but also denying our students a chance to understand and empathize with the struggles faced by the LGBTQ+ community. … It’s essential that our education system works towards creating awareness about these issues rather than shying away from them.”

In the brief email to families, school leaders said they are “working on developing an alternative production opportunity for our students.”

“We understand that it is unusual for a production change like this to take place. Students will still have an opportunity to read, discuss, and analyze the play during the school day,” they wrote.

District spokesman Bryce Nieman said in a statement that the decision was “made by many stakeholders.”

“The decision to move forward with another production at Timber Creek High School was based on the desire to provide a performance similar to the ones that have created much excitement from the community, like this year’s Keller ISD musical productions of Mary Poppins and White Christmas,” Nieman wrote in an email.

Mary Anne Weatherred, whose son was supposed to perform in The Laramie Project, said she’s concerned about a pattern of anti-LGBTQ decisions in Keller.

Related:Keller ISD passes policies targeting bathrooms, pronouns for transgender students

If people don’t agree with the message of the show, she said, then they shouldn’t come watch it.

“But they don’t need to take it away from the kids,” she said.

The Laramie Project, which is often performed in high schools across the country, explores the community’s reaction to the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay 21-year-old University of Wyoming student who was attacked, tied to a fence in a field and left to die.

 

His brutal death became a symbol of anti-LGBTQ violence and helped fuel the fight for expanded hate crime legislation.

Judy Shepard, Matthew’s mother and president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, said she’s seen a spike in attempts to cancel productions of the show in recent years.

“My heart is broken when people still refuse to see how important this work is,” she said.

Shepard said the play can hold particular resonance for high schoolers, who are only a few years younger than her son was when he died.

“It might scare some kids. And it might wake some kids up. And it might make kids want to make change — all of those things. And they have the power to do it,” she added.

Roughly 25 years since his murder, many lawmakers and local school boards are targeting the rights of LBGTQ students.

Keller school trustees voted last year to establish rules stating that district employees “shall not promote, encourage, or require the use of pronouns that are inconsistent with a student’s or other person’s biological sex.” This means someone could intentionally use the wrong pronouns when referring to a transgender or nonbinary child.

Before that, the school board approved a policy prohibiting library books across all grade levels that include the discussion of gender fluidity.

Related:Keller school trustees prohibit books about gender fluidity, debate arming staff

A Keller ISD trustee resigned earlier this month after parental outcry over a film crew that was brought into a school without families’ knowledge or consent. Parents were enraged when they saw the crew was part of an evangelical network from the Netherlands.

The Laramie Project has been the subject of protests and controversy, with several administrations canceling productions over the past two decades.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation’s goal is to “create an environment where people are afforded an opportunity to discuss the play and its messages, the hate they encounter in their own lives, and how they can work collectively to build a more understanding and compassionate community.”

About two-thirds of respondents to the Educational Theatre Association’s annual survey said censorship concerns are influencing their play selections this school year.

“We know educators are worried about the current wave of legislation mandating what they can and can’t teach,” the association’s director, Jennifer Katona, said in a statement. “What’s concerning about these results is the potential impact of self-censorship. School theatre should be a way for students to explore diverse perspectives, which helps them develop empathy and critical thinking.”

A different North Texas district recently triggered national outrage when a transgender teenager was removed from his part in the school musical. The community rallied to get him reinstated in his leading male role.

Related:The show went on: Inside the fight to perform ‘Oklahoma!’ at Sherman High School

Howard Sherman, managing director of the performing arts center at Baruch College in Manhattan, is an arts advocate who tracks and fights against instances of theater censorship in schools.

This isn’t the first time he’s watched a school cancel The Laramie Project.

“What I see driving it now is an ugly push to deny LGBTQ rights and identity that, in some states, is being enshrined in law,” he said.

Hearing that Keller ISD wanted to instead put on a show more like Mary Poppins or White Christmas, Sherman said those are great shows that have a place on the high school stage.

“But they shouldn’t be the only kinds of shows because that is not preparing students for college, for the real world,” Sherman said. “Students shouldn’t be relegated to escapism or assumed to not be capable of handling mature themes.”

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.

One of the reasons for Theatre to be a part of our lives is that it causes people to think. Mary Poppins is not about thinking. White Christmas is not about thinking.

The Laramie project is intended to get people to think. For that reason alone, it would be anathema in Texas .

KCMark  BensNewLogin16 hours ago

 

Dwight Williamson16 hours ago

 

Chuck in NYC 17 hours ago edited

Well, back to doing “Our Town,” I guess.

Although, now that I think of it, a young wife dying in childbirth may not be acceptable to them these days, either.

Anastasia Beaverhousen  Chuck in NYC17 hours ago

BUT! The baby lives and that is all that matters.

Paula 17 hours ago

The Keller ISD. That name has shown up in these articles before. Fort Worth Area.

ASFT  Paula17 hours ago

One of the hellmouths of MAGAt land, if not THE one

Jim Austin 16 hours ago edited

Meanwhile, the 2nd grade rendition of “Showgirls” (featuring pageant winners Marabelle and Lindsey!) will continue to be performed at the Timber Creek Saloon.

fuzzybits 16 hours ago edited

I still remember all those years ago when we had a memorial for Matthew Shepard. We were handed out stickers(which I still have) that read “We’re all Matthew Shepard” It’s the truth these days.

ArgieBargie17 hours ago

Pray away the play.

J.Martindale16 hours ago

Cowards. In this day and age, the one thing gay, lesbian and trans kids need is open support. Instead, educators act as fluffers for fake Xtians.

chris16 hours ago

Nope. No gay. None. Doesn’t exist. La-la-la.

This is dangerous to so many.

Nobody has rights until we all have rights.

Duh-David 17 hours ago

In the seventies, of the six plays we did each year, one was required to be a classic. After casting, but before rehearsal, Lysistrata had to be replaced with The Trojan Women due to one Harper Valley hypocrite.

Tomcat17 hours ago

Dang black history keep getting in the way of the lie that there never was racism in America.

Tomcat17 hours ago

Erasing black history and life. That is the Texas plan.

ASFT17 hours ago

I keep telling you guys – about the only thing on par with our legislature is some of these school districts.

Gregory In Seattle 17 hours ago

What are the odds that they will “chose” Godspell or some other Christian-infused pablum? Not Jesus Christ Superstar, that is too “rock,” and not the Jesus-Is-My-Rock type, either.