harassment case of a Milton school girl with a lesbian mother
continues to unfold – and is gaining mainstream media attention.
We’ve reproduced this article
published by 7 News Boston. Click
here for the video.
MILTON, Mass. — A young Milton girl, excessively
teased because her mother is gay, is forced to go to school with a
bodyguard.Virginia Gaffey says that her 9-year-old daughter was physically
assaulted by other students on the playground at Tucker Elementary
in Milton. She claims that the reason was because she is a gay
mother.“She had been harassed, told she has coodies, and that she should
be ashamed that her mother should be ashamed because she’s a
lesbian,” Gaffey told a group of reporters.Gaffey asked that the school give her daughter a bodyguard, but she
say that the extra protection did not work.Gaffey had her daughter transferred to the Glover School. While
there, the fourth grader’s class was told to write a letter about
why they’re special. Gaffey read us what her daughter wrote:“I remember when kids picked on me. They still do. I stuck up for
myself. Instead of being chicken I stick up for others.”Gaffey claims that Milton Public Schools are failing to teach
students about tolerance and diversity,“They were actually training my daughter to don’t ask, don’t tell
when my daughter was actually proud of her mom,” Gaffey said.Magdalene Giffune, Milton Schools Superintendent, denied the claim,
saying that the assault on Gaffey’s daughter never occurred, adding
that tolerance of gay parents is taught to children.“When something happens to your own child it’s far more personal
and less abstract then when it happens to someone else,” Giffune
said. “But, I believe that it was handled appropriately.”Gaffey plans to meet with Giffune Wednesday morning to discuss the
issue.