Pennsylvania students hold 'anti-gay' day at their high school

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A band of Pennsylvania high schoolers in matching flannel shirts organized an "Anti-Gay Day," students said.

    
A band of Pennsylvania high schoolers in matching flannel shirts slapped hateful poster on gay students' lockers and drafted a "lynch list" to mark their self-concocted "Anti-Gay Day," students said.

As many as 100 students at Claysville's McGuffey High School took part in the Thursday protest a day after the school's Gay-Straight Alliance held its Day of Silence. GSA's day was organized to draw attention to and condemn bulling against gay students, according to the Observer-Reporter.

The homophobic students, mostly boys, wore flannel shirts on the same day and wrote "anti-gay" and drew crosses on the backs of their hands. The group stuck intimidating posters on gay students' lockers and scuffled with Gay-Straight Alliance members and their supporters, student Zoe Johnson told WPXI.

"Yesterday, there was pushing, posters hung on homosexual students' lockers. Teachers were having to run out and take them down," she said.

Other students said the group had a "lynch list," although they did not say what exactly the list meant. McGuffey Superintendent Erica Kolat said officials have not seen the rumored list, but that the school district was investigating the allegations.

The flannel-clad group wore red Friday to distinguish themselves again, students said. The band planned to continue its matching attire this week.

While the Gay-Straight Alliance and other students have tried to counter Anti-Gay Day with more protests — on Monday students held signs that said "Stick with Love" and "It Gets Better" before the morning bell rang — the tension between the two factions is still obvious, students said.

"This is why so many students hate going to school," Johnson said.

"Our investigation is ongoing, and we encourage anyone with information to contact McGuffey School District administration immediately," the school district said in a statement to WPXI. "McGuffey School District is committed to providing a safe, supportive environment for all children."

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