Newark, N.J.'s
East Side High School's class of 2007 graduated Wednesday
after a controversy spurred by a decision to black out a
yearbook photo of a gay student kissing his boyfriend.
As part of an apology to the student, the school
district's superintendent promised to distribute
yearbook inserts of the student as part of the graduation
ceremony but failed to do so, reports The
[Newark] Star-Ledger.
Deciding the image of Andre Jackson with his
boyfriend was too explicit for a high school yearbook,
superintendent Marion Bolden instructed the staff to
black out the photograph last week. Later, Bolden publicly
and personally apologized to Jackson for the decision.
As part of her apology, Bolden promised Jackson
that during graduation he would receive an uncensored
copy of the book and students would get photocopies of
his tribute page to insert into their yearbooks. However,
neither was delivered on the day of the graduation.
However, Jackson did not seem angry or spiteful
at the ceremony.
"I'm better--I'm moving on and happy I
have such great friends," Jackson told the Star-Ledger.
Other students expressed disappointment that the
insert wasn't issued as promised.
"We didn't get what we wanted, but we won't let
that overshadow our graduation," said Crystal Mendez,
who added that she hoped the situation would raise
awareness about the difficulties of growing up gay in
Newark. (The Advocate)
