Reprimand for girl-on-girl school kiss not homophobic

(ANSA) – Treviso, December 12 – High-school students in the northern city of Treviso on Thursday said they are satisfied school authorities are not homophobic, but they will demonstrate against sexual discrimination on Saturday by wearing a purple ribbon to school anyway.

Their announcement came after a joint meeting with principal Antonia Piva and two female students who were reprimanded for what school authorities judged to be an excessive public display of affection in the hallway on December 10. The reprimand was interpreted by some as a homophobic act.

An anonymous letter to the principal was allegedly fired off, and local press ran with the story.

“There was no homophobia involved at all, and whoever naively exploited the issue should perhaps now admit their mistake”, student leader Lorenzo Boz said after the meeting.

“Our school is a highly evolved one from an educational standpoint, and exercises maximum respect for the rights of each and every person”, said Piva. “There is absolutely no censoriousness connected to sexual orientation”. The principal also denied the existence of an anonymous letter.

“As a civil servant my duty is to observe correspondence protocol and therefore any anonymous mail is promptly redirected to the trash bin”, Piva explained.

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