Oregon student
expelled over gay film welcomed back

An Oregon high school senior who said on Monday that he was expelled after showing classmates a gay-themed student film now says he has been invited to stay at the school as long as he promises perfect attendance until graduation. Brandon Flyte made the film short, a romance he called BrokebackHigh, for an English assignment at West Linn High. Flyte, who is straight, said the teacher asked him to edit out a scene of two shirtless teenage boys cuddling, and he showed the edited film to that class. But, he said, he showed the unedited version to his marine biology class.

Flyte said school officials then told him he was being mandatorily transferred to a community college to finish out his senior year. They told him he didn't seem to be succeeding at the high school, in part because of a spotty attendance record. But Flyte said his attendance has been perfect lately and that the film was the main issue.

"They sat me down, they said, 'Do you know why you're here?'" Flyte recalled. "And I--I said, 'Is it because of the film I showed on Friday? And they go, 'Yes.' For like the first half hour or 45 minutes of the meeting all we talked about was the film. They didn't say that it was a gay thing or anything like that; all they really said was that it was a scene I wasn't supposed to show."

The West Linn-Wilsonville School District said student records cannot be discussed for privacy reasons. But they claimed that no student had been transferred, suspended, or expelled from West Linn High School recently. (Sirius/OutQ)