Message from:
Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020
John Myers, Director of Operations and Programs
Email to:SARATOGANY@aol.com
The Real or Perceived Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Student Protection Project

===================================================================
P'town teams taunted on Nantucket
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/pzxtownteams5.htm
P'town teams taunted on Nantucket (May 5, 2003)
5/5/03

By JAMES KINSELLA
Inquirer & mirror
NANTUCKET - A hate language incident on April 16 has led Nantucket High School officials to consider banning Nantucket students from the stands during sporting events.

High school principal Paul Richards warned students during an assembly last week that a ban is possible if behavior in the stands does not improve.

Richards spoke in light of the actions of some Nantucket High School students during a home baseball game against Provincetown High. Several students made anti-homosexual remarks to the Provincetown team.

Anti-homosexual remarks also reportedly were directed at Provincetown softball players who were at the school the same day to play against the island high school softball team.

"It's very frustrating to have our teams receiving sportsmanship awards, while our fans are acquiring a reputation," Richards said. "It's insulting to our students."

Richards said he told the students that "we do not want to be a school that doesn't allow students in the stands. We're better than this."

In an April 18 letter to Richards, Provincetown High School principal Edward G. Boxer and athletic director Maurice Worth cited what they called "hate crimes" at Nantucket High.

"We request that you, in conjunction with Mr. (Alan) Myers, Superintendent of Nantucket Schools, help us in our fight against the taunting and cruelty that go along with the hate language and harassment that our students experienced at what appeared to be the amusement of a number of your students, particularly the lacrosse team," Boxer and Worth wrote.

"The Provincetown High School community has worked extremely hard to eradicate these types of assaults on our students," they wrote. "Not only is it an assault on the students of Provincetown High School, it is an assault on the entire Provincetown community.

"We are confident that you are in agreement with us when we say that this type of conduct will not be accepted or tolerated by anyone, no matter what school district or community," they wrote.

Richards said he isn't refuting the statements by the Provincetown officials and students. He said he and other Nantucket High officials are investigating what happened on April 16.

The Nantucket High School principal anticipates that the investigation will be completed this week, and that disciplinary action will be taken against students who were involved.

In the April 18 letter, Provincetown officials described behavior by Nantucket students observed by two Provincetown coaches.

The incident began, according to the coaches, when Nantucket students, whom they presumed to be lacrosse players, taunted the Provincetown High School baseball players with anti-gay language.

One of the Provincetown coaches complained to the home plate umpire, who in turn spoke to Nantucket varsity baseball coach Art Crowley. Crowley spoke to the students in the stands, and the remarks stopped for a while.

Then, the Provincetown coaches said, the lacrosse team appeared in uniform before a practice, and the verbal harassment of the Provincetown team began again.

Boxer and Worth asked Richards to investigate and to let them know the results of that investigation.

Richards called the allegations of fan misbehavior the most serious he's heard in the four years he's worked at Nantucket High School.

---------------------------------------
TheBostonChannel.com 5/5/03

Associated Press

Fan Ban Considered After Anti-Gay Taunts
Principal Says School's Fans Getting 'A Reputation'

NANTUCKET, Mass. -- Officials at Nantucket High School said they might have to ban their own students from the stands at school sporting events.

The school is investigating an incident last month in which fans reportedly taunted the Provincetown High School baseball team with anti-gay comments during a game in Nantucket.

The Cape Cod Times reported that the incident prompted an angry letter from Provincetown school officials, in which they referred to the taunts as "hate crimes."

Nantucket principal Paul Richards isn't refuting the allegations. He said some of the school's fans are "acquiring a reputation" at the same time many of its teams are receiving sportsmanship awards.

Richards warned students during an assembly last week that while he doesn't want to ban students from sporting events, it may come to that if fan behavior fails to improve.

===============================================================
This message has been distributed as a free informational service for the expressed interest of non-profit research and educational purposes only.

Subscribe at saratogany@aol.com

John Myers
Director of Operations and Programs
(518) 587-0176

Return to P.E.R.S.O.N. Project Home Page