School Leaders Lie to Silence Gay Teen, Face No Accountability
Tyler Johnson in Tully, NY won’t take silence as an answer
As a student here, someone very directly impacted by your actions, I can attest to the fact that not a single thing has changed… so many of us still feel beyond uncomfortable. — Tyler Johnson in a speech to the Tully Board of Education, February 15, 2022
When Tyler spoke those words, pushing for positive change in the high school that discriminated against him because he’s gay, he had no idea he was about to feel far more uncomfortable, that Board of Education President Denise Cardamone would end the meeting shouting at him and his supporters, berating them for testifying about Superintendent Robert Hughes’ long track record of discriminating against minorities and bullying staff and students. This story starts with an attempt to silence Tyler, and those attempts continue today.
On January 6, after 17-year old Tyler Johnson was selected to be honored as a role model in a publication run by the staff of Tully High School in upstate New York, his principal shocked him by telling him a district policy barred publication of…
