Teacher resigns after being told to sign a letter promising not to talk about being gay

Neosho Junior High School in St. Louis
Photo: Facebook

A teacher in Missouri resigned after he was told to sign a letter stating that he would not tell students that he’s gay.

John Wallis, 22, was hired this year to teach speech and theater at Neosho Junior High School in St. Louis, his first job after graduating from college. He put up a sign that said “In this classroom everyone is welcome” in his classroom and had a flag on his bookshelf, and parents immediately started complaining.

Related: Students walk out of school in support of teacher put on leave for coming out

“A parent called last week to complain that I was going to teach their child to be gay,” he said in a Twitter thread about the ordeal. He said that another parent compared the rainbow flag to the Confederate flag.

He said that students asked him why he had the sign and the flag up, and he said it’s because he’s gay.

“This led to three or more calls from parents accusing me of pushing my agenda in the classroom,” he said.

That’s when, Wallis said, Superintendent Jim Cummins sent him a letter to sign that said he wouldn’t come out to students. According to a copy of the letter obtained by the Springfield News-Leader, Cummins wrote that Wallis would be fired if he couldn’t keep his “personal agenda on sexuality out of your narrative and the classroom discussions.”

The letter listed several things Wallis wasn’t allowed to do…

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