The principal of Hollis F. Price Middle College High School in Memphis, TN, is being accused of outing a young gay couple at the school by putting their names on a list for everybody to see.

The American Civil Liberties Union ((ACLU) says principal Daphne Beasley in September 2007 asked her staff to give her the names of students who were couples, heterosexual and homosexual, because she wanted to keep an eye on them to cut down on public displays of affection.

Among the students on the list were two boys, Andrew and Nicholas, who had just started dating and ACLU claims Beasley violated students' constitutional rights to equal protection, freedom of expression and association, due process and privacy by outing their relationship to other students, teachers and even their parents.

"Our first reaction was wow, this is unbelievable that a principal has gone this far," says ACLU attorney Christine Sun.   "The constitution protects all of us from the government intruding in our private lives when there isn't a reason to do that. This was morally and legally wrong."

One of the young men, Nicholas, an 11th grader who just made the Dean's List, spoke with Eyewitness News Everywhere.

"It was actually frightening to see a list with my name on it where not just other teachers could see but students as well," said Nicholas, an 11th grader who just made the Dean's List, to Eyewitness News Everywhere.

Nicholas says his teachers and other students treat him differently as a result of of the incident and that both he and Andrew have had to deal with verbal assaults. One of Nicholas' teachers even denied him to go on a trip to New Orleans to help rebuild homes because he would "embarrass" the school by engaging in gay affection.

"I really feel that my personal privacy was invaded," Nicholas says.  "I mean, Principal Beasley called my mother and outed me to my mother!"

Last update: 04-30-2008 16:35