Teacher Gets to Keep Job After Antigay Overshare on Facebook

A Florida teacher who refused to apologize for calling same-sex marriage a "cesspool" that makes him sick is returning to his high school social studies classroom.

Lake County school superintendent Susan Moxley appears to have sided with Jerry Buell's argument that he has a First Amendment right to write what he did on Facebook, according to reports about a hearing before the school board.

"If I did not stand up for my rights after telling my students to stand up for their rights then I would be a hypocrite," the Orlando Sentinel  reports that Buell said while outside the district offices.

WKMG Local 6 reports that Buell has been given a list of 10 directives he must follow. But Moxely won't yet disclose the terms of Buell's return to the classroom. It might include a reprimand, it might not.

Some gay rights proponents were concerned that Buell's Facebook posting had sent a signal to gay students that they aren't welcome in his classroom. Here are the complete comments, according to WKMG:

"I'm watching the news,
eating dinner, when the story about New York okaying same sex unions
came on and I almost threw up.

"If they want to call it a union,
go ahead. But don't insult a man and woman's marriage by throwing it in
the same cesspool as same-sex whatever! God will not be mocked. When did
this sin become acceptable???"