Utah teacher who shamed 5th grader for having ‘two dads’ is escorted off campus after students speak up

During the week before Thanksgiving at Deerfield Elementary School in Cedar Hills, Utah, a substitute teacher asked a fifth-grade class to share what they’re thankful for. There were a variety of replies, one of which included an 11-year-old boy who said he was thankful “that I’m finally going to be adopted by my two dads.” That’s when the teacher’s demeanor changed, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

“Why on earth would you be happy about that?” the teacher reportedly said.

According to eyewitnesses, the teacher then spent the next 30 minutes lecturing the class on why “homosexuality is wrong” and why “two men living together” is a “sin.”

“That’s nothing to be thankful for,” the teacher reportedly said while looking straight at the boy.

Three girls decided to speak up, asking the teacher to stop multiple times, but the teacher, who is reportedly a woman, refused, prompting the three to walk out of the class and inform the principal what was going on. As the teacher was being escorted off campus, she was still trying to argue her case.

“She also tried to blame our son, and told him that it was his fault that she went off,” one of the boy’s dads, Louis van Amstel, told the Tribune.

Van Amstel later spoke about the incident in a video posted to Facebook, which has since gotten thousands of views.

“The substitute teacher was giving her very clear opinion, two men is wrong, homosexuality is wrong, and so you can imagine that set us off, and we are not letting this go,” he said. “I am so proud of [the boy’s] school, not only did they let go of the teacher they said this woman is never going to teach in the school ever again.”

“I’m proud of those three girls and [the boy’s] school for standing up for our family against this bully,” he added. “I’m truly disgusted that the bully in this situation is a teacher in a public school.”

Featured image via Deerfield Elementary/Instagram 

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.