Standing on the steps of the state Capitol on Tuesday, Lynn Tilley looked out at the crowd in front of her, opened her mouth to form a word, then burst into tears.
Her son, Taylor Ellis, 17, a junior at Sheridan High School, wrapped his arm around his mother's shoulder and brushed the hair out of her face. His father, Billy Ellis, stood to their left, holding a sign that read "Stand With Taylor."
Tuesday's news conference -- organized by the Human Rights Campaign, a national group that aims to protect the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people -- was held to implore the Sheridan School District to reverse its decision to pull a profile telling the coming-out story of Taylor Ellis, who is gay, from its yearbook.
The school has since said it will not print any of six of the planned student profiles from the yearbook lineup. Yellowjacket yearbook assistant editor Hannah Bruner, 16, said a lot of effort and care was put into producing the profiles and called the district's treatment of the matter is discriminatory and an act of bullying.
Lynn Tilley said when her son told her that he is gay, she worried about bullying by fellow students. She said her fears never materialized, until the decision made last week by Sheridan High School Principal Rodney Williams and District Superintendent Brenda Haynes.
Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin -- an Arkansas native who attended elementary school in Sheridan -- said more than 30,000 signatures from around the nation have been collected since Sunday on a petition asking the Sheridan School District to allow the inclusion of all the profiles in its yearbook.
"At the end of the day, our administrators' jobs are to protect the students. This is the most unconscionable act of discrimination I've seen," Griffin said in an interview before the news conference.
During the event, Taylor Ellis took the microphone to a roar of cheers and applause. Dozens of his classmates stood behind him.
"Yes, I'm gay," Taylor Ellis said. "And I can't understand why my school is trying to force me back into the closet."
The Human Rights Campaign sent letters to letters to Gov. Mike Beebe and Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell asking for their intervention.
When contacted, Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said, "We have no plans to get involved in a local school-district issue."
Likewise, Kimbrell's spokesman, Kimberly Friedman, said, "decisions regarding yearbooks are made by local school boards and superintendents."
When contacted, Haynes emailed a statement that said the "adults who have the responsibility for the operation of the District" are obligated to make decisions consistent with the school's mission.
"We must make decisions that lead in the proper direction for all of our students and for our community. We must not make decisions based on demands by any special interest group," Haynes wrote.
Taylor Ellis said after the news conference that he and his family will discuss the next steps to take. He added that the conflict has changed his life and he is standing up not only for himself, but for other students who have yet to go public with their sexual orientation.
"I will not give up," he said.
A Section on 03/19/2014