Q-triad reader Brian Templeton had the following comments to give on the supposed hoaxed expulsion of straight student Brandon Flyte over his “Brokeback High” film project:
I’m not convinced this is a hoax. The possibility entered my mind when I first read about the story, but all that’s happened is that the school has presented their side of the story. Brandon never claimed that he had been expelled, per se – if I recall correctly, he only claimed that the school was forcing him to transfer to a community college, which he felt was similar in spirit to a formal expulsion (and I think I would agree). And he believed that the school was forcing him out because of his “Brokeback High” film. This is another point of contention. The superindendent said, as quoted in The Oregonian’s article, that “it was the last of a series of misbehaviors for the teen”. I find it troubling that, to the school officials, showing a film with a shirtless snuggling scene is a “misbehavior”, and I really don’t believe that they’d feel the same way about a film with a heterosexual snuggling scene.
The superindendent claims that the transfer was just to allow him to make up lost credits; Brandon claims that it’s a punishment for having made and shown his film. Now perhaps the timing is coincidental, but it does seem suspicious that this benevolent offer was made the next school day after he showed his film – if Brandon is telling the truth about that. Why the convenient timing? Why was this latest infraction the impetus for offering the option to transfer – if it was indeed presented as a choice for him, and was not a mandatory quasi-expulsion? It doesn’t quite add up, and the explanation offered by the school sounds like it could, possibly, be pure CYA bullshit.
To me it’s rather bizarre that you and other LGBT bloggers report this based on a single source – the person who claims to have been expelled – and then do a complete about-face the minute another party presents their side of the story – officials of the school that purportedly expelled him! I don’t think anyone’s gotten to the bottom of this yet, but it seems a little harsh to practically call for his expulsion, given the scanty evidence available to go on.
In response I said:
Yes, the timing may be a little off on the school’s part, but the fact remains that he claimed he was being expelled. He claimed ” As of last Monday, I’m no longer a student at West Linn High School.” and “Apparently the administration thought that this was a big enough violation to warrant an expulsion. Only, it’s not being called an expulsion. It’s basically a ‘mandatory transfer’ to the local community college. I have no choice in it. West Linn High says they’ll pay for me to finish up my last 2 months of high school at Clackamas Community College, and I’ll be able to walk with my high school class at graduation and attend Prom as a guest, “depending on behavior this spring related to West Linn High School.”
Brandon also admits he was never an great student either and he even admits to regularly skipping class. Maybe, just maybe, the school got fed up with dealing with a student who wasn’t following the rules. Although their reasoning for his movie being “the last straw” is horrible in my mind, the fact remains that this boy claims he is being expelled for the gay snuggling seen. There is WAY to much to this story here.
When I first read about this story I blogged about it and supported the student without hearing from the school and the school’s side of it. Now that I have heard the school’s side of it I have to consider more than just Brandon’s story. Maybe I’m wrong to say Brandon was wrong…. it definitely wouldn’t the first time I was wrong, lol. I’ll keep a track on the story and see what unfolds and thanks for your comments… you caused me to think (a very good thing).
So… I apologize to Brandon now. Maybe I jumped the gun… in fact I know I jumped the gun in condemning him. After going back and reading what he had to say and seriously thinking about all the other things said on this issue it may very well be possible Brandon is right.
Like I said in my response to Brian, I’ll keep a track of this story. Also… thanks again Brian for your comments and for making me think. It is always a good thing to have someone like you around.
March 18th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
Here is his explanation in an interview on http://www.BrandonFlyte.com:
“Q:Is there anything you wish to clarify to the public that you didn’t say in your updated remarks on your own web site?
A:I’ve been accused of lying about my expulsion, but that has never been the case. The school never actually called it an expulsion and I acknowledged that from the beginning (see the introduction on my site). I just believe in calling things what they are, and whether you call it a transfer or an expulsion, I haven’t been permitted to attend classes at West Linn High for almost three weeks.
I was asked to edit out the ’snuggle scene’ as part of the assignment for my English class, and although I don’t and didn’t feel that what I had made violated the no sex/no nudity rule, when I showed it in English I complied with that request. It was in a different class — which had ASKED for me to show my film — where I showed the complete film and got in trouble. Also, due to the poorly written nature of the Oregonian article, it is structured to appear as though I was responsible for the threatening e-mails written to the school. Those e-mails were not written by me, nor at my request. I would never encourage threats or violence toward someone you disagree with. That’s the whole point of the film I tried to make, after all.”
March 18th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
[...] My good friend and Q-triad Blog reader Sam, left a comment on the last post on Brokeback High about an interview that Brandon Flyte was in. [...]