Fifth grader Kameron Slade entered and won his class competition with a speech supporting same sex marriage. He then planned to enter a schoolwide competition where he would deliver his speech to other students at PS195 in Queens, New York. That was until his principal deemed the speech inappropriate and told the student he would be removed from the competition if he didn’t choose another topic.
“I was really looking forward to it,” young Slade said during an interview with NY1. “I thought that this was a real good winning speech for tomorrow.”
Slade’s mother, who asked not to be identified, was naturally upset with the decision: “”For him to be denied the right to voice his opinion really upsets me.” Both his mother and father aided him in writing the speech.
Many parents sided with the principal, noting that same sex marriage is a very controversial topic. But in Kameron’s speech, he addresses this: “If children read or watch the news, they can learn about things like same gender marriage. So what the point in trying to hide it?”
Kameron’s mother obviously agrees: “It’s on the news. It’s a part our lives now. They need to open up. The New York City Department of Education need to open up.”
And in the end, the New York City Department of Education did, with Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott going above the principal and allowing Kameron to read his speech during a special assembly for fifth graders on Monday. The principal will also inform parents of the students attending of the speech’s content.
What exactly is so controversial about his speech? GaySocialites.com doesn’t know and gives this progressive young man an enormous round of applause.
