Catholic Diocese In Charge Of Recent MAGA Hat Controversy Also Banned Gay Teen From Valedictorian Speech

The internet is still raging about the video of high school students surrounding an American veteran and indigenous protestor.

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In response to the viral video, the Catholic Diocese overseeing the Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky said that it would investigate the issue.

"We condemn the actions of the Covington Catholic High School students towards Nathan Phillips specifically, and Native Americans in general. … We extend our deepest apologies to Mr. Phillips. This behavior is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person. 

"The matter is being investigated and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion."

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But, as our friends at Towleroad have pointed out, the Catholic Diocese is the same one that banned a gay student from giving the valedictorian speech at his High School graduation.


Update 1/23/2019: Christian Bale has voiced his opinion on the Covington Catholic situation.


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Last year, we shared with you the story of Christian Bales.

In May of last year, Bales was preparing to graduate from the Holy Cross High School in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. Even better, Bales was the valedictorian.

But while preparing for his speech, he received word from the school and the Catholic Diocese that he wasn’t allowed to give the speech.

"The diocese took ours and said they were too confrontational, too angry, too personal, and that they weren't appropriate for the setting," Bales told CBS News.

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A diocese spokesperson later released a statement saying:

"School officials and representatives of the Diocese of Covington reserve the right to review and approve all student speeches to be presented in public at high school graduations. The student speeches for the Holy Cross High School graduation were not submitted for review before the deadline. They were found to contain elements that were political and inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic church."

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Bales’ mother, Gillian Marksberry, later came forward to say that she suspected her son’s sexuality to be the real issue behind the proposed speech.

Marksberry shared with news sources that she received a phone call from the school’s principal a week before the ceremony. The principal wanted to know if Bales would wear men’s clothing and not makeup or bobby pins to the ceremony.

"That was disturbing because in four years, I had never received a phone call from the principal," Marksberry said. "No one ever reached out to me to help learn about my child."

With a shady situation like as Bales’ under their belt, can we really trust the Catholic Diocese to handle the Covington Catholic High School situation?

h/t: Towleroad

8 thoughts on “Catholic Diocese In Charge Of Recent MAGA Hat Controversy Also Banned Gay Teen From Valedictorian Speech”

  1. Lesbian Katie Herzog just

    Lesbian Katie Herzog just wrote a good piece in The Stranger/Slog about how she misjudged the MAGA hat teen until she saw the full video.

    Reply
  2. with his smug smile, please,

    with his smug smile, please, the elder came to diffuse it, he stood his ground because he was cocky, he should have walked back, this is white privlege, plus guess what kid, this land is the natives your kind stole it. killed them and gave them diseases and destroyed the land/ stole their homes. one thing i did notice his future career as a politician standing there and being smug he is off to a great start.

    Reply
    • The Native Tribes stole land

      The Native Tribes stole land from each other and were always at bloody warfare long before Europeans arrived. And the kid had every right to smirk. The best article admitting how wrong people were to jump to conclusions about this case is in currently online in the Atlantic, titled "I Failed the Covington Catholic Test", by Julie Zimmerman. 

      Reply
      • This is a joke right? Natives

        This is a joke right? Natives always traveled and never settled in one part of the land. That's why you can't find remnants of communities, only trails to show where they traveled. And not many tribes were aggressive. Winning a war was to touch another tribes teepee and steal their women and horses. Get educated before making stupid comments and also this kid is clearly mocking and the Native guy only approached him to diffuse the situation with the African preachers and catholic students. The teachers should have escorted them away rather than allowing them to surround the guys. Give your head a shake. 

        Reply
        • You’re the one who needs to

          You're the one who needs to get educated about warfare over land (hunting territory). I'm not saying they were worse than Europeans or Asians or anybody in any other part of the world, but they sure weren't the benevolent tree-huggers some would prefer to imagine. 

          Reply
  3. The media is backtracking

    The media is backtracking like crazy since the full video has shown the MAGA hat student turned out to be the one in the right. The Catholic school kids showed great restraint after first being attacked with racist and homophobic taunts from those insane black Israelite cultists, and then being confronted by the Native American protestor.  Aside from that, the gay student shouldn't be censored.

    Reply
    • It was sad to see the

      It was sad to see the Catholic boys attending an anti-abortion rally making rape jokes, one saying "it isn't rape if you enjoy it". 

      There's a lot more video out there. Most of them misbehaved, mocked, and were not right in their behavior. As a public school teacher, if my students did any of that, they would be in trouble.  And if they were from a Catholic institution, they should have been on even better behavior. 

      Reply
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