Tennessee high school principal Dorothy
Bond on Thursday resigned from her post allegedly over telling gay
students that they're going to hell, the Jackson
Sun reported.
The Haywood County Board of Education
announced Bond's resignation in a statement released through its law
firm.
“The Haywood County Board of
Education acknowledges its student body's right to free speech.
Further, the Haywood County Board of Education strives to provide an
atmosphere of tolerance and diversity while maintaining high academic
standards.”
Bond, the principal at Haywood High
School in Brownsville, Tennessee came under fire for controversial
comments she made about gay people and teen pregnancy during a
February 9 school assembly.
“At first she was talking about PDA
and she turned around and she directly pointed to the gay people and
said if you're gay you're going to hell and if you're pregnant,
you're life is over,” Amber Whittiemore, who heard about Bond's
comments through a gay friend of hers who attended the meeting, told
ABC
affiliate ABC24.
According to a news release from the
American Civil Liberties Union, Bond also threatened to expel gay
students who showed affection for each other and said that gay
students were “not on God's path.”
Outraged parents called on the district
to discipline Bond.
“That's not her role. Her role as
educator, as principal, is to encourage them regardless of their
circumstances or situations,” parent Tony Snipes said. “With
remarks she made I personally believe she does not need to be a
principal in Haywood County Schools anymore.”