Schools
Principal Comes Out To Students On 'Pride Day': ICYMI
Principal says he is tired of hiding his sexuality.
When students and staff gathered at Woodrow Wilson High School for a tolerance event called Pride Day, their principal had a surprising announcement: he's gay.
Principal Pete Cahall came out publicly as gay for the first time, telling those gathered on Wednesday that, “I just turned 50 a couple of weeks ago and it’s just something I’m tired of hiding,” CBS Baltimore reports.
Support from students was overwhelming.
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“I feel really proud of him, even though obviously he’s an adult,” Marla Solow, 16, a junior who helped organize the Pride event, told The Washington Post. “I teared up … if it inspires other people to come out, that’s great.”
The principal, a former football player, told students he was inspired by them to come out.
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“I want to say publicly for the first time because of your leadership, care and support that I am a proud gay man who just happens to be the principal of Wilson High School,” he said in the atrium at the D.C. school with Mayor Vincent Gray at his side.
Anti-gay protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church, claim they’ll be at Wilson to picket, according to CBS Baltimore.
More than 1,000 students at Woodrow Wilson High School have pledged to show up to counter-protest, the station says.
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