Georgia educator says she was forced to resign after telling student she’s gay

A Georgia special education paraprofessional says she was pushed out of her job after acknowledging she is gay during a conversation with a fourth-grade student in a moment she describes as an attempt to challenge anti-LGBTQ+ remarks in real time.

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Cameryn Lovett, who worked at Mulberry Creek Elementary School in the Harris County School District, said administrators pressured her to resign following the interaction, which took place as students waited to be picked up after school.

“He was talking badly about gay people. He was saying he didn’t know any gay people because they are bad and stuff like that, so I was like you do know a gay person,” Lovett told ABC affiliate WTVM in Columbus. “He let me know he wasn’t very happy to hear that.”

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Lovett said the exchange was brief and rooted in a teaching moment, correcting misinformation rather than initiating a broader discussion about sexuality. School officials, however, deemed the conversation inappropriate. According to Lovett, the district’s human resources department gave her a choice: resign or be terminated. She chose to resign but now says she regrets that decision.

“The woman from HR told me it will look better for your next job and for job applications if you resign. So, I agreed,” she said. “I said I would resign, and then, in leaving, I find out that prevents me from taking any kind of action.”

Georgia does not have a "don't say gay" law explicitly restricting classroom discussion of sexual orientation, unlike some neighboring states, though similar proposals have been introduced in recent years. Last year, Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 36, known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which critics warned could open the door to discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, including in employment.

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At the bill signing, Kemp rejected those concerns.

“Today I signed SB 36, also known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, ensuring that once again at the state level, that Georgians are protected, including Georgians of faith,” Kemp said at the time. “I wanted to let everybody know that despite signing that legislation, Georgia still remains a state that has no place for hate, and I can assure all Georgians of that today.”

In Lovett’s case, she said administrators told her the issue was not the student’s comments, but her response — specifically, that she disclosed her own sexual orientation. She questions whether a straight educator would have been treated the same way.

“I’m not the only gay person that works in the Harris County school district; there are kids growing up in that school district that are gay,” she told the ABC affiliate. “I’m someone that a lot of kids looked up to. All I tell them is speak up for yourself and be true to yourself but now, they don’t know if they can trust the school.”