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Chelisa Grimes
Undated 2012 photo of Darnell "Dynasty" Young with his mother, Chelisa Grimes.
An openly gay Indianapolis teenager who was expelled after firing a stun gun at school to scare away what he said were bullies is suing the school district, accusing it of failing to stop “relentless, severe harassment” by other students.
A lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis on behalf of Darnell “Dynasty” Young, 17, claims teachers and staff at Arsenal Technical High School ignored his repeated pleas to protect him from ongoing abuse on school grounds.
From the day he arrived at Tech, Plaintiff Dynasty Young was subjected to relentless, severe harassment and abuse by other students because he was perceived as gay and because his clothing, behavior, and demeanor did not fit stereotypical notions of masculinity. He repeatedly reported the abuse to school staff. Rather than take effective measures to protect him, school staff told him that he was to blame for the harassment because of his appearance and told him to change his dress and behavior to conform to stereotypical ideas of masculinity and to be less “flamboyant.”
The Indianapolis School District said its attorneys will review the lawsuit “and respond accordingly.” It said in a statement:
"We are pleased that last week, the Indianapolis Marion County Equal Opportunity agency dismissed its complaint against Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) in the matter of former Arsenal Technical High school student Darnell Young. The agency concluded that IPS provided a sufficient response to the Complaint (it filed on Young’s behalf) and that no further action was appropriate.”
Young often wore some of his mother’s clothes to school, including knee-high boots, purses, rings and bangles. These accessories were permitted under the school’s dress code, the lawsuit says.
Young says fellow students spat at him, called him derogatory names and threw rocks and empty bottles at him because of the way he dressed and what they perceived as unmasculine behavior.
Young’s mother, Chelisa Grimes, says she eventually gave her son a stun gun to protect himself because she feared for his life.
Read the court complaint (PDF)
On April 16, according to the lawsuit, Young was accosted by six male students between classes who yelled at him and threatened to attack him. He fired the stun gun into the air, scaring off the group.
Not long after Dynasty sat down for his next class, a school security officer came into the classroom, cuffed him and escorted him out. The officer remarked, “If you did not dress like this, people would not mess with you,” the lawsuit says.
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Young was expelled for a full school year. The school district later reduced the expulsion, but on the condition that Young transfer to an alternative high school.
Young declined and eventually enrolled at Indianapolis Metropolitan High School, a charter school not affiliated with Indianapolis Public Schools, where he is taking extra classes in an effort to try graduate on schedule in 2013.
“I want to make sure no other student in the Indianapolis Public Schools ever has to go through the kind of abuse that I went through. I am hoping this will get IPS to start treating kids like me with respect and really do something to protect their students,” Young said in a press release issued by the National Center for Lesbian Rights. The center and the law firms of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Waples & Hanger filed the lawsuit.
“My son is a wonderful, sweet, talented young man,” added Grimes. “He deserves a chance to attend school and learn without being terrorized by other students and told that the school will not protect him unless he changes who he is.”
The lawsuit claims violations of federal civil and constitutional rights. It seeks unspecified damages and a reversal of Young’s expulsion.
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Leave a Comment:
This story is a good example of why the American Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as a mental disorder.
They removed homosexuality from the DSM nearly 40 years ago, because there was no evidence to support the claim that it was any type of "disorder".
However, bigotry and homophobia ARE disorders -- you should seek professional help.
Erin, there's no nice way to put this: You're a liar.
Homosexuality was NOT removed due to a lack of evidence. It was removed for no reason other than political pressure brought by militant liberals. And the sad part is, that by getting it removed it from the manual, mentally ill people are denied the treatment for their particular mental illness.
Bigotry is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. It would appear you don't even know what the word means.
And "homophobia" isn't even a real word. Nobody's afraid of pillow-biters. We're just disgusted by them.
Proof?
Except homosexuals are not mentally ill. But then, you think you know more than the APA, right?
Definition: see: Vern!
And no one else really cares!
There's no nice way to put this, either: you're full of @!$%#; furthermore, you don't know your ass from third base when it comes to doing research. Stop pulling your "facts" from the encyclopedia of your ass.
http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_mental_health.html
That certainly shows that there is no evidence to warrant the inclusion of homosexuality as a mental disorder, and the doctors who made the decision in 1973 felt the same way.
Really? So now you claim to know what "real words" are, when you don't even know how to do the simplest research?
ho·mo·pho·bi·a
[hoh-muh-foh-bee-uh] Show IPA
noun
unreasoning fear of or antipathy toward homosexuals and homosexuality.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/homophobia?s=t
Looks like the dictionary disagrees with you. And you are certainly a homophobe.
BTW, intelligent and rational people (like me) are disgusted by dumb bigots like you.
One thing I really like about Vern and most the other posters here is that they hide behind handles and nicknames. I guess these big strong men that are disgusted by homosexuals just can't let folks know who they really are. Likely out of fear they could be bullied?????Like Dynasty was bullied????
Or maybe because they can only be strong and tough secretly? I always post with my name up there because I am man enough to do so. What is wrong with you sissies?
still, any way one (a rational thinking mentally balanced individual with a reasonable level of intelligence...) looks at it, there is a difference between fear, hate, homophobia and disgust.
Many of us might be disgusted by others who consume insects for example, that however in no way means that we hate them.
It would turn this writer's stomach to see another eat a tarantula, but that has absolutely nothing to do with hate..... or fear.
Hate is what will be expressed in response to this comment.
: P
i dont mean to sound rude but this isnt GLEE and he isnt chris colfer, i feel bad for what that kid went thru i was bullied being a native american did i bring a gun to school no did i fight back hell yes and once i stood up for myself a couple of times it stopped why because i took care of it not the teachers the school or my parents we were kids and that was how its handled but today instead of words and fists they BRING guns wow how life has changed
This is the result of crappy parenting, all the way around.
Where is this kid's father?
From the looks of his mom's black hooker fingernails, there are some "issues" in the Section-8 household.
Ok you racist @!$%# bag. Parenting doesnt seem to be the issue with this kid. Its the issue with the bullies. Their parents should teach them respect. look after the less fortunate. Racist pricks like you should be sterillized so you cant continue that cycle.
You think "Parenting doesnt seem to be the issue with this kid."? Sounds like you need to take off the rose-colored vagazzled sunglasses.
And where do you get "racist" from? Are you just assuming that anyone that makes any comment about someone who is black, is automatically a racist? These people would be idiots no matter what color they were. I suspect that it is actually you that is the racist, since you seem to look no further than skin color.
vern is right in a way. a parent who doesn't teach his kid that it's wrong to throw rocks at people and spit on people is a bad parent
Vern, how do you know those are "black hooker fingernails" unless you have been frequenting them??? Have you been seeing them because most women are offended by your attitude?
Expressing yourself is fine but not on school time. Students should dress appropriately while in school. They should dress as they would if they were going to a job. It is a given fact that if you look good you do better, whether it be at school or your work place. This is why I am for a school dress code. After school the kids can dress to express. It is distracting to others when people have their pants around their knees or rings dangling from their nose. This is part of the reason our country is sliding down hill. Just my opinion.
Yup. There's no good reason to let girls dress like prostitutes from the time they hit puberty at 11 or 12, and there's no reason to let little booger-eaters dress like mini-gangsters.
70% of all communication is non-verbal, and skin-tight booty shorts on a teen-age girl communicate a lot more than any words coming out of their mouth.
Bringing a weapon to school is no solution for the behavior of those who 'harassed' the student. Both this student and mom should be charged and prosecuted for their actions. We have enough problems with guns in school w/o parents giving them to their children and saying its ok to take them to school/use them. The precedent it sets here is an extremely dangerous one - and should be dealt with as such. This student should be considered lucky if they get away w/o some kind of felony conviction that stays on their record for life.
what about the people who threw rocks at him, or the ones who spit on him, or threatened him with physical violence? shouldn't they also be prosecuted for their actions?
This kid is just another angry, confused Democrat, resorting to armed violence at the drop of a hat.
And your just a blind, closed-minded dumb@ss. What type of jab is this "This kid is just another angry, confused Democrat, resorting to armed violence at the drop of a hat". This DEM/REP crap should be left out of this one jerk.
You sound pretty angry too. I thought you lib-tards were supposed to be all about "tolerance". I guess that's not a two-way street, eh?
Hypocrites.
It was wrong for him to take a stun gun to school...it was even more wrong of his mother to let him wear her clothes. I mean come on...Darnell, you are a young man, not a young woman.
I reading this and all the posts and still have mixed thoughts about it all. I am a firm believer that no one is born gay, but more like grows into the role. Its their choice and more power to them right? We all have the freedom to do what ever we wont.... until it hinders another in life liberty and the persuit of happiness. The school must provide a safe learning enviroment for everyone and if they can't then a taser is a great choice. I bet those other kids about @!$%# them selves when they saw that come out of his purse. The bullies should be kicked out and i hope Dystany get a nice chunk of change from the city.
Yes, I'll agree that you're pretty mixed up.
And the little pillow-biter's name is Darnell, not "Dystany". He calls himself "Dynasty", to attract exactly the kind of attention that he then used as some kind of twisted "justification" for pursuing armed violence against other school children.
"Little Pillow-biter"? no I think it was the other kids ignorant bigot parents like yourself that pushed this sexually misguided teen to feel he must defend himself at school due to sh!tty parenting. the boy was punished for bring the stun gun to school and now it time for the others at fault to suffer as well
Ok, I am reading lots of hateful things. Lets all take a minute and remember our high school years. We all know kids are not kind. You do your best to fit in or else you make yourself a target. Arsenal Tech is a rough inner city school to say the least. I do not condone bullying but its not new- how many posters were bullied for one reason or another? Hello fat girl here - cna tell you I was but NEVER thought about bribnging a weapon to school - my momma would have redefined the definaition of abuse if it was even a thought. Darnell/Dynasty literally painted a target on himself and then cried about being targeted. Hello - that's like seeing how fast the car will go and then whining about the ticket. Most Indianapolis schools have a very strict dress code to try to foster less distractions. Teachers and administrators cant be everywhere all the time and at some point we all need to take personal responsibility - high school is where it starts. Mom should not let him where her clothes to school nor got him a weapon - there are channels and options if Tech was not an appropriate environment for him. Indianapolis offers charter schools as well as online only schools. Yes, he should be able to express his individuality however good sense should prevail. As my momma always said - if you have to ask if its appropriate - it probably isnt. Not saying the school is blameless but see it as more blame on the parent and student for not looking at the obvious and other options - THERE WERE OTHER OPTIONS FOR A QUALITY EDUCATION (probably better than what Tech provides).
Amen.
It seems like another great argument for school uniforms, or at the least a stricter school dress code. As a person who attended both a public high school with next to no dress regulations, and a private Catholic high school with a fairly strict dress code, the latter seems to make more sense to me. I don't like the idea of having to tell people what to wear, but parents across America have shown they aren't involved enough in their children's lives to make sure they are dressing appropriately. Please don't missunderstand what I'm saying, closed minded and mean spirited kids are who is to blame here, but a stricter dress code could have alleviated at least some of the tensions that arose in this situation.
LOL @ punks fleeing like girls when he fires a stun gun into the air. Goes to show who's REALLY the biggest sissy.
I wouldn't worry about them - watch them at your school reunion a decade from now. They'll be hanging onto the arm of another man, that's how these sissies work.
I hope the school officials really did tell Dynasty to dress more masculine. If they did then his college tuition is covered, along with a new wardrobe of FABULOUS! outfits......
He should not have brought the stun gun to school admittedly. The students bullying him should not have brought that attitude and action to school as well.
Were justice to be done Dynasty would be punished for the weapons violation and the parents of the bullying kids would be paying for the civil rights violations commited by their children. It just is not right that the parents of the bullies now are claiming how their snotty spoiled prejudiced little brats were wronged. I see a lot of comments about how Dynasty should have changed how he looked and acted but little about how the perpetrators of the abuse should change their actions. Funny thing is the parents of the bullies likely look down on folks that don't raise their kids right by teaching them courtesy and respect ofr others.
Well, I hope he wins the lawsuit. I think the teachers, principals and security there are completely MORONS. I can tell you for a FACT, that it does not matter how you dress, nor how you act. If anyone, bullies or not, want to pick on you, push you around, pester you, or start fights with you, they WILL FIND A WAY. It doesn't matter what you do, it WILL happen because nothing you can do will change that. The only thing you can do is to let the right people know about it..and when they don't do anything, well, who can blame them for falling into a lawsuit because of it? If I'd known I could sue the schools for not doing anything when I was bullied as a kid in school, I would have. They didn't do crap for me. I'm just glad I was able to wait the years out without too much trouble. I feel real bad for those like this guy in the bigger cities where things are ten times worse than I had it.
He was teasing the other students and brought this on himself. You're an idiot.
You are a moron.
It's not right that this young man brought a stun gun to school! However, it should never have gotten to that point. If the school administration would have acted appropriately to the repeated complaints of hurassment from one of its students, this student wouldn't have felt the need to bring an item for self defense. Being told to change how you act and dress, is not how adults should handle such issues. How else do you expect the children to learn in these institutions, to learn to respect others and treat them with dignity, when those in charge fail to do so? This young man did make the right choice in not actually using it on an individual, by firing it into the air. He could have easily tazed one of these bullies, and from the sounds of it they would have deserved it. Being a teenager is hard enough, without having to worry about being picked on and bullied everyday, while knowing no one in position of authority is going to help. I believe this boy was forced into this situatiion and should be awarded something to compensate for the school administrations lack of action.
bullies are in every school, you shouldn't be singled out and receive the most attention because you 're gay. stun gun to school? i can tell this kid isn't as nice as that picture makes him to be, probably just a punk.
If he did not want to be bullied then he should not have dressed in his mothers clothes. What did he expect? If someone did that in my high-school he would have been given a Pink Belly party every day until he dress like a man or did not show up for school.
This whole thing is a joke, the case should be thrown out and he should be fined for a frivolous law suit
NO WEAPONS AT SCHOOL MEANS NO WEAPONS AT SCHOOL.
What a crock of excrement, so now, members of the LGBT community should be allowed to carry and use weapons wherever they go.... because they might get picked on?
aaaaaaaaaaahahahaahahahahahaahahhahaahahahahahaahahahaaa
Apparently moronic, gang sign mother probably petted and primped him his entire life.. So now he's so "special" he doesn't have to follow rules for the rest. With this attitude it's understandable kids don't like him. Blame his bimbo mom.
I think he had every right to bring a non lethal weapon to school. If he was within the dress code and the staff would not protect him he had no other choice than to protect himself. Stop blaming the victim & put the blame where it belongs - on the pathetic bullies that have to be in a crowd to do their bullying.
Too much gay craps! Get back to you closets.
I agree with you Jeff, he should have styaed home when it started getting rough and filed a suit saying they were not doing anything about the problem. That nis the solution that would work. Bringing a gun to school, is not the answer. I don't know what his mother was thinking when she gave him a gun, needs her head examined. What adult gives their kid a gun to take to school? You let the attorneys work it out, not guns.
Although homosexuality is really very hard to take, every one is born with a instinct to survive.