In a depressing reminder of the world that we all live in, an LGBT vlogger claims he has been forced to change schools after administrators threatened to expel him for, well, basically... being gay.
Austin Wallis, 17, runs a fairly popular channel on YouTube. The LGBT teen took to his account yesterday to share a heartbreaking message: administrators at his school allegedly told Wallis that he must go back in the closet by wiping his queer digital social media footprint or find another educational institution to attend. Due to the fact that Wallis attended a private school, this action is considered legal.
In the video from Wallis, the vlogger explains his emotional decision to leave his school:
I don't want people to think that I left just because of the social media. It was because I can't stay somewhere where I feel like I'm being forced into something that I'm not, or I feel like I'm not wanted by my own principal... I'm not a bad student. I really want to try and change this. I think it's ridiculous that in this day and age you can be excluded from your own school for being gay. When I came out I knew I was going to have bullies and I knew people were not going to be okay with it. But I never expected it to be from the people who were supposed to protect you from the bullies. Who were supposed to try to stop that. And then they themselves are the bullies.
According to the video, Wallis chose not to reveal the name of the educational institution that threatened to expel him because specific faculty members at the school support him. Rather, the teen wanted to use this opportunity to raise awareness about identity regulation and the fact that it still happens.
LGBT teens in private schools are still subjected to the authority of those institutions. There have been countless instances of queer teens being forced to hide their identities within private schools, especially those operating within a religious framework.
Head here to see more from Wallis.
(h/t Towleroad)
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