US teacher tells class full of students ‘I don’t like queers’ and ‘Michele Obama is fat’
A school teacher in the US has come under investigation after allegations that he used homophobic slurs during a debate with students. He reportedly said “I don’t believe in queers”.
During a recording reportedly made by a student on Monday, Bob Grisham, who teaches drivers education and psychology at Lauderdale County High School, also says that Michele Obama was “overweight” and had a “fat butt”.
On the tape Mr Grisham says the students can “get pissed off at me or not. You can go tell the principal, call the superintendent and tell her.
“I don’t believe in queers. I don’t like queers, I don’t hate them as a person, but what they do is wrong and an abomination against God.”
Lagter in the tape, Mr Grisham talks about Michele Obama, and he blames her for “600 calorie school lunches”, when a student interrupts to call her a “fat gorilla”.
Mr Grisham then describes her as: “Fat butt Michelle Obama,” he continues: “Look at her. She looks like she weighs 185 or 190. She’s overweight.”
TimesDaily posted the audio recording of the debate, reported that he admitted that he had spoken out of term, and said that what he said on the recording did not reflect his views.
He said: “I misspoke in a debate-type situation,” he said. “I have no hatred toward anyone or any group. People that know my heart, they know that.”
Superintendent Jennifer Gray confirmed that Grisham, was under investigation for the tape, which was sent to her via email.
She said: “It’s an unfortunate situation, and we hope to clear this up as soon as possible.”
Ms Gray continued: “Before we do anything, we’ll investigate this thoroughly and gather information from other people… Whatever we do in response to this situation will be dictated by board policy.”
The board investigating Mr Grisham had not confirmed a date for a decision on his fate, but said it wanted to act quickly. It had not ruled out termination, but also said that no disciplinary measures could be taken.
Bob Grisham had been in the education system since 1991.
