Indianapolis HS Expels Bullied Gay Teen Who Carried Stun Gun

Very sad news to report from Indianapolis. Openly gay 17-year-old Darnell Young—seen at left with his twin brother Darell—has been expelled from Arsenal Tech High School after carrying a stun gun to scare away bullies, reports The Indianapolis Star.

Darnell "Dynasty" Young and his mother, Chelisa Grimes, found out late Monday that an independent arbitrator who presided over an expulsion hearing last Wednesday decided to expel him until Jan. 7, 2013. He cannot finish his junior year and he will miss the first semester of his senior year. "I couldn’t believe that they did it," Grimes said. "They really kicked him out."

Grimes and Young can appeal to the Indianapolis Public Schools school board and the courts if necessary, but Grimes said they're still weighing their options. Young said he plans to get his GED and go to college. ...

Young said he has been overwhelmed by the support he has received. Some of his supporters in Indianapolis are planning a rally before an IPS school board meeting May 15 to raise awareness about Young's case and to pressure the school board to take more steps to prevent bullying.

Young had been suspended since April 16. The openly gay student says classmates have relentlessly bullied him ever since he arrived in October from Arizona—taunting him, calling him names, following him home and even throwing rocks at him. Young eventually fired a stun gun into the air to scare off a group of six kids who used gay slurs and threatened to attack him on campus.

The stun gun was given to him by his mother, who says school authorities were not helpful and told Darnell to "tone down" his accessories and mannerisms. But she said she doesn’t regret her choice. "I’ll never regret protecting my child," Grimes told The Star last week.

Indianapolis Public School Board member Samantha Adair-White has called for an independent investigation into the case. But she said last week she's not sure if enough school board members will support her request.

Young and his mother said they told the school about the bullying "more than 10 times"—but the school only formally investigated one complaint. In addition to suggesting that Darnell should "tone down" his image. So much for a "zero tolerance" of bullying.

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Comments

[Colin William]

I don't care about the back story but you CAN NOT bring a weapon to school...

[sonofbaldwin]

I would encourage anyone reading Rod's news story to please contact the principal and let him know that his treatment of Darnell Dynasty Young is UNACCEPTABLE:

Larry Yarrell: 317.693.5300, yarrelll@ips.k12.in.us.

[JW, III]

Easier said that done: when the administration hasn’t done anything including further demonizing your child for who he is then what are the options? I think the first thing a parent should do once they discover that their child is gay or lesbian and send them through self-defense classes and demand that they teach their children at home until they’re safe. These options weren’t explained nor was she aware of her options.

[Former COGIC]

A horrible situation. I'm so sorry this young man experienced all that, but thankfully his mother did what she felt she had to do.

Yawn @ Colin

You should "care about the back story" because the majority of gay teens are bullied or harassed. Black LGBT youth even more so. And Black LGBT suffer much more violence.

So you probably were bullied when you were younger and you're likely to be gay bashed as an adult. Don't worry, plenty of folk will say they don't want to hear "the back story

[Desmond]

So sad. So very sad.

[Kevin Perez]

@ Colin William,

This is the first time I ever say something like this but your comment is pathetic and trifling. You, along with this society we live in general and others simply don't give a rat's ass about the plight youth face in this day age, especially those who are LGBT, and especially those who are Black, Latino, and whatever minority group you can think of when it comes to the issue of bullying. You feel entitled to make snarky comment like that without as much as even considering the background of the incident. Lazy, pathetic, and trifling.

Darnell Young brought in a stun gun was his last resort to defend himself for the school's inability to do anything for him and his mother regarding the harassment and bullying he was receiving. I'm not a huge admirer of Malcolm X nor do his philosophies mean much to me since I'm a Puerto Rican (with a "light skin privilege" and lack of stereotypical ethnic features) but nothing rings more true than his reference to defend oneself "whatever means necessary" and Darnell's mother gave him the stun gun to do exactly that.

Folks like yourself don't care about the bigger picture or "back story" but feel the need to give your 2 cents completely dismissing why. You know what's really sad? We get lack of empathy from larger society, we get lack of empathy from pathetic excuse of our "communities" who probably believe we should die or are not fit to walk the Earth, but even more deplorable is the lack of empathy that comes from other LGBTs, some who just don't care and others who are lazy and also who lack any empathy.

It's very sad testament to pathetic state many are in regarding these incidents and that sometimes, you cannot count on anybody but yourself.

[Troy]

Back story, front story, mish mash -the truth is the light the same tax dollar that his parents pay for a solid public education should account for just that and not have to include private kung fu lessons and stun guns. No, you get documented up, a lawyer and bring a lawsuit against the school system, the town, and the non existent law enforcement namely the police department.
No suprise on the crikets no response from the infamous big time gay orgs that are always asking for a donation..Hmm is this 1950 or 2012 WHERE NOTHING HAS OR WILL, CHANGE?!

[Fred]

is it just me but i'm very disappointed with the crickets and lack of comments in this post. as cogic mentioned above, i am sure many black gay men were bullied and our lack of interest and compassion is so very troubling to me.

[KC]

I feel bad for what happened, and i don't think the kid should have been expelled, but brining a weapon to school is never, under any circumstances, a reasonable solution to bullying.

I agree w/ what Troy said: you go over the school's head You go to the school board, get a lawyer, go on the news. You don't bring a stun gun to school: what happens when the bullies start brining weapons to school too?

[Mark Lazzarano]

@KC - bullies do bring weapons to school... mouths.

[Distant Lover]

@ Colin, you'd care about the back story if they were pounding your a$$ into the ground. Cold, clinical analysis is not appropriate here. I hope Dynasty lands on his feet and this negative can be turned into a positive.

[Donny D.]

A study recently found that gay and lesbian young people are punished by officialdom (including the police and school officials) significantly more harshly than are straight young people of otherwise similar background for the same offenses. This seems to be a case in point.

It also seems to be an example of a people in a neo-redneck state letting straight kids bully a gay kid, but punishing the gay kid when they have an excuse to.