Students attacked at homecoming by homophobic peers who heckled ‘make America straight again’
A group of homophobic students chanted “make America straight again” as they attacked their LGBTQ classmates at a homecoming parade in Kansas.
It’s believed dirt and other objects were thrown at those marching with the Gay-Straight Alliance in the parade at Olathe Northwest High School in Olathe, Kansas.
One mother, identified only as Missy, told WDAF-TV that her daughter was left in tears after the march on Thursday as they were taunted and attacked.
“What was supposed to be fun and joyous and celebratory and inclusive, turned out to be ugly,” she said.
The daughter told Missy that a small group of students began to heckle at the Gay-Straight Alliance students.
They chanted “make America straight again” and told the students to “kill yourself”.
The homophobic group also reportedly shouted “you’re not welcome here”, “we don’t want you” and used other homophobic slurs including the word faggot.
The alliance was part of the homecoming parade which passed through the elementary and middle schools before reaching the high school where the attackers shouted and threw objects.
It’s believed that those who made the offensive remarks wore “Make America Great Again” hats – a staple from Donald Trump’s campaign.
Missy added that she was embarrassed as a parent because she also grew up in the area and had hoped it would be more accepting in 2017.
She said: “This isn’t who we are, come on. Where is this coming from? Why? Why do we have to hate each other? I don’t get it.”
The school district has confirmed that they will be investigating the incident, which was apparently not witnessed by any staff at the school.
Assistant Superintendent Eric Dugan said: “We didn’t see it, if we’d seen it, we would’ve stopped it immediately.
“Kids do a nice job of doing things when the adults aren’t watching. They know our expectations.
“Kindness and compassion and acceptance, we need to send a strong message to our students that this isn’t acceptable.”
