Third grade teacher Omar Currie and vice principal Meg Goodhand resigned from Efland elementary school in Efland, North Carolina due to LGBT topics shared during class time. Parents filed complaints to the school after Currie read a gay-themed children's book entitled King & King to his class. Goodhand lent Currie the book. Currie's resignation was finalized as of June 15. Goodhand will officially quit on June 30.
King & King is a fairy tale about a prince who "never cared much for princesses" and found his prince charming. The prince ends up marrying another prince. Currie read the book to his students when a boy in his class "was being called a girl and the word gay was used in a derogatory way" in April 2015.
"When I read the story, the reaction of parents didn't come into my mind. In that moment, it just seemed natural to me to read the book and have a conversation about treating people with respect. My focus then was on the child, and helping the child," said 25-year-old Currie.
Currie said in an interview that he grew up being bullied for being a homosexual African American male in his adolescent years. He said that he learned about King & King at the University of North Carolina. It was used as an example of a book that could strategically introduce topics on diversity to students.
"This is nothing more than bringing homosexuality into a school where it does not belong," said a grandmother in an interview with the News & Observer at a community hearing.
Orange County Schools came to a decision to allow the use of King & King in classrooms after receiving complaints from parents, holding two meetings, and having two committees review the book. New school policies were installed as a result of the decision. One of the policies requires teachers to send a list of every book that will be read in class to parents.
Currie decided to resign from his teaching position at Efland after receiving discriminatory and hateful comments at committee meetings. He also received letters and emails that accused him of being born with a "birth defect" and of indoctrinating children through "psycho-emotional rape."
Brandy Davis, one of the parents who voiced a formal complaint about King & King is a mother of two children who attend Efland elementary. She said that her kids had no prior knowledge of homosexuality until the book was read in class.
"It's not about being gay or straight. They're my children. I thought we were supposed to be on a team. Parents and teachers are supposed to be on the same team," said Davis.
Davis said that she will talk to her children about homosexuality, but thought the book was inappropriate for the classroom setting. Davis expressed her disappointment in Currie. Other critics accused Currie of having a separate agenda by pointing out a speech he made at an LGBT conference.
"Meg's research shares a perspective that through transformative learning opportunities, educators can reframe their attitudes, beliefs and knowledge about gender nonconformity, the LGBTQ community and the heteronormative culture within schools and society. Ideally, with this new understanding, educators as social justice leaders will be willing to disrupt the heteronormative culture of a classroom and their schools," said Currie at the conference.
Currie called it "an absurd claim" and that as a teacher, he did what he thought was best for his students. He said that he made a decision to resign from the teaching position at Efland after discussing the matter with his partner. They came to an understanding that he was not going to receive adequate support from Efland in the course of his professional career. Currie furthermore expressed his disappointment in the whole situation.
