Speakers at meeting decry Instagram account attacking gays, lesbians
OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City Board of Education formalized creation of the high school’s PRISM Club to support the LGBTQ+ community Nov. 16 by appointing an adviser.
American Sign Language teacher Carly Benson has been assigned to oversee the club and will be paid a stipend of $2,546 annually.
Senior Nate Ginet founded the club after he and others before him unsuccessfully tried to form a Gay/Straight Alliance. GSAs are student-run organizations that unite LGBTQ+ and allies to increase awareness of issues affecting their members and are found in districts across the nation.
“I would like to thank the board, Dr. (Wendy) O’Neal and Ms. Benson so much for helping me make the PRISM club official, a step that I hope in turn leads to greater strides for equality in this school,” Ginet said.
Senior Keely Calloway told the board how happy she is that it made the club official.
“We’re just so overjoyed that this actually happened, especially with the amount of hatred we have experienced over our many years here,” she said.
Calloway said every year she has been a student at OCHS “there has been some sort of hatred or bigotry that everyone in the LGBTQ community has experienced.”
She said the experience is not exclusive to one group, but involves intolerance of race and religion.
“I implore the board to do whatever you can in your power to denounce bigotry, to denounce hatred of all groups of Ocean City, especially the LGBTQ+ community because they are being specifically targeted,” Calloway said.
She said the LGBTQ+ community has a high suicide rate, noting OCHS has a history of suicides.
“If we want to avoid more suicides, we need to make sure that the school board is behind us in denouncing this bigotry and hatred,” she said. “I know upcoming members are anti-LGBTQ. We need you to denounce this, show that you’re with us. This vote does a lot to show that but we need a statement from you guys that really shows that you’re here for us.”
During the meeting, Board President Patrick Kane responded to the call for denouncing bigotry and hatred by saying the board is “trying to ensure the schools are a place of safety, a place that is welcoming not only for students but teachers, staff and the entire school community.”
“Diversity really does make us stronger and should be celebrated and supported,” he said. “You belong, you’re appreciated.”
Board member Jacqueline McCalister denounced hatred and bigotry, saying that pronouns are important, as did Disston Vanderslice.
Superintendent Matthew Friedman took the opportunity to remain silent on the issue.
Marie Hayes, who said she and her husband, David, have long lived in the city, said the results of the recent election — in which a trio of candidates won after months of objecting to parts of the new state health and physical education standards regarding gay and gender identity issues — show parents want schools to focus on education instead of social issues.
She congratulated the winners of the election — Catherine Panico, Liz Nicoletti, Robin Shaffer, who ran as a ticket, and Kevin Barnes.
“The voters have spoken and it is very clear that parents want school administrators and teachers to be working on core competencies in reading, writing, math and social studies that were lost during the pandemic,” Hayes said. “This election was not only about the rights of parents to be involved in their minor children’s education — and we all welcome and support all students regardless of sexual orientation and identity. However, teachers need to be advancing educational competencies instead of personal pronouns.”
She said they are proud that the candidates who won did not back down from their beliefs “in the face of harassment and intimidation by activists from both on and off the island.”
“It’s gratifying to see that the candidates who did win and the people here who did vote for them want to uphold the values of this island that was founded 143 years ago,” Hayes said.
#ochschristians
Jean Martin of Wesley Road, the mother of a school sophomore, spoke about an Instagram account run by a couple of high school students that espouses Christianity as the answer to basically every problem.
On the platform, Grant Friedland and Ryan Wettstein characterize the LGBTQ+ community as immoral sinners.
“I have had a kid in a mental health crisis and children are telling other children that God is going to save them from depression and anxiety, and God is not, they need help,” she said, requesting the school do what it can to remove its name from the account, which states it is not associated with the district.
“Telling other children that God is going to help them is not going to help them, so please, if anyone needs help, ask for help from an adult, from someone they trust like a doctor or teacher,” Martin said.
Ginet said making the PRISM Club official “could not have happened at a more opportune time.”
He said #ochschristians is “specifically targeting groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community, and making it their priority knowing that they are unholy sinners and going to hell.”
He said the account “has become a distraction at school and during clubs with their anti-LGBTQ speech.”
“The type of content that this account is preaching has caused tension to rise among the student body and has disrupted the learning environment of me and my peers,” Ginet said. “No student should feel unsafe or targeted while at school or during club meetings, and this group uses the name of the school, making it seems as if it’s endorsed by Ocean City High School. We ask that you do everything in your power to prevent this group from further disrupting the school environment and creating unnecessary tension.”
Board member Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes said she is a member of the health and wellness committee and the group discussed the Instagram account Nov. 14.
She said the account does not represent the school and no permission was ever granted to use the school’s name or image.
“I know they have a picture of the high school but that does not represent us,” she said. “They did not do that with our authority.”
Wellness Center
Christine Stanford inquired about the Red Raider Wellness Center, saying it is not always staffed, and asked that the board find a way to keep it staffed during school hours.
“I think it needs our attention due to the climate that our students have to go through every day,” Stanford said.
Gallelli-Keyes said the board is trying to find a way to keep the Wellness Center open.
“We have been hearing that there is a lot of bigotry going on,” she said. “We want to make sure the Wellness Center is open. We’ve got to figure that out.”
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff