California high school student Kearian
Gertz was booted from a pageant for declaring that he hopes gay
marriage is legalized in the next 10 years.
Assistant Principal Joe Abell on
Tuesday reportedly pulled Gertz from the competition for senior male
students at Fullerton Union High School, KTLA-TV
reported.
During the Mr. Fullerton Pageant's
question and answer period, Gertz was asked where he saw himself in
10 years.
“I just wanted to be able to sit on
the couch by the person I love and happily proclaim that we're
married,” Gertz told the station. “Hopefully, 10 years from now
I'll be able to do that if gay marriage is legal.”
Abell questioned Gertz as he came off
the stage.
“'Why would you say something like
that?'” Gertz said Abell asked him before telling him he was
disqualified.
Some students protested the decision
with letters asking Abell, “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”
Fullerton Joint Union High School
District Superintendent George Giokaris said in a statement that
Gertz had not violated any school rules.
“The district has concluded that the
matter was not handled appropriately by the assistant principal,”
Giokaris said. “The district believes that the matter should have
been handled privately with the student by the assistant principal.”
On Wednesday, Abell apologized publicly
over the school's public-address system. (A video report is embedded
in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)