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Judge Allows Teens to Play Gay

A Nevada judge ruled on Tuesday that a high school theater class should not be blocked from performing The Laramie Project and the musical Rent.


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A Nevada judge ruled on Tuesday that a high school theater class should not be blocked from performing The Laramie Project and the musical Rent.

A group known as Concerned Parents of Green Valley High in Henderson, Nev., filed a lawsuit in October to halt the productions. The parents objected to students playing characters dealing with gay issues and drug use.

Clark County district court judge David Wall ruled that participation and attendance at the plays was voluntary and therefore permissible, reports the Associated Press.

Green Valley High School principal Jeff Horn stood by the school’s theatrical decisions during the lawsuit. Horn told Advocate.com in October that the school decided to stage Moisés Kaufman’s The Laramie Project, a play chronicling the 1998 slaying of gay college student Matthew Shepard and its aftermath, in conjunction with the 10th anniversary observance of the play’s premiere.

As for the musical, Horn reviewed Rent: School Edition, an edited version of the musical omitting coarse language and one sexually explicit song, and deemed it appropriate for students.

Performances of The Laramie Project begin this weekend, while Rent will be staged early next year.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: James McGuire
    Date posted: 11/11/2009 8:30:25 AM
    Hometown: Wakefield, MA

    Comment:

    My spouse and I happened to be in Las Vegas when the Laramie Project 10 years later was being performed around the world. I didn't want to miss out and thought it would be a perfect place to cewlebrate our 19 year anniversary. So I searched and found the only performance in Nevada was at the Green Valley High in Henderson. We took two buses to get there from the 'strip' and saw the historic production/reading. The students and faculty did a great job. Life is much different from when I went to high school. I didn't expect such a good turn out in such a conservative place. The parents protesting need to see the plays. The one character in the original Laramie Project has the perfect response....'but mom, last year I played a murderer and you had no objections'.

  • Name: Debra
    Date posted: 11/11/2009 3:35:31 AM
    Hometown: Sacramento

    Comment:

    Bravo to the kids, the principal and the courts. Lets hope the closed minded parents get a wake up call.

  • Name: rationalthinker
    Date posted: 11/10/2009 11:54:16 PM
    Hometown: boston

    Comment:

    ftw

  • Name: Morgan
    Date posted: 11/10/2009 10:25:41 PM
    Hometown: Austin

    Comment:

    Yay! : ) Both of these shows are awesome. When my highschool did Rent a couple years ago, I rhink it opened a lot of minds.

  • Name: Phillip
    Date posted: 11/10/2009 8:48:21 PM
    Hometown: Reseda

    Comment:

    Why don't they combine both plays and have a musical called "Matt"?

  • Name: MarK
    Date posted: 11/10/2009 6:59:51 PM
    Hometown: Tesuque

    Comment:

    Fantastic! I always remember the adage, you've got to be taught to hate. Bravo for the principal and the kids standing up for what they believe in. Perhaps there is hope for the future after all.

  • Name: ArtNOLA
    Date posted: 11/10/2009 6:53:13 PM
    Hometown: New Orleans

    Comment:

    BRAVO!!!



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