Student Gay Bashed at School, Sues

GROVE, OK -- An eighteen-year-old gay student from Oklahoma is suing Grove Public Schools and the Grove School Board of Education for failing to provide him with a safe environment at school. Michale D. Bullis, 18, of Wyandotte, claims that the school thus created a hostile climate, which he says led to another student assaulting him.

Bullis says he was physically attacked and injured by another student on Nov. 8 in the Grove High School cafeteria because he is gay. He claims the attack was part of a continuing and "systematic harassment and bullying" which resulted in his transfer to the Grove Alternative School.

According to a Grove police report, Bullis reported that he and a female student were walking down an aisle when a 16-year-old boy stepped out from a line of students and hit Bullis in the mouth and nose causing him to fall. As a result of the attack, one of Bullis's teeth were knocked loose and his bottom lip cut.

Bullis is seeking in excess of $10,000 in damages. He is being represented by Miami attorney Erik Johnson.