After a physical altercation between students on the grounds of continued harassment for sexual orientation, administration punished the LGBTQ+ student and their allies with 5 days of out-of-school suspension, the same punishment given to the party harassing them.

Things to know:

1. The harassment had been reported by students prior to the altercation, and administration did not investigate it.

2. Administration's standard policy is to punish both parties regardless of who started the altercation.

3. A contract of no contact had been reached between the parties privately, which went unenforced by the school and after which verbal harassment continued.

4. An ally to the LGBTQ+ student shoved back a member of the harassing party after having asked them to leave (the student was directing homophobic slurs at the LGBTQ+ student and violating the no contact contract), and the harassing party inflicted visible injuries to the ally as a response.

Our demands of Lee's Summit High School Administration:

1. Excuse the LGBTQ+ student and their allies from suspension and remove the incident from their permanent records.

2. Investigate reports and justly punish the other party for harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation.

3. Pledge to enforce the school's Zero Tolerance Policy for bullying and harassment.

4. Issue a school-wide apology for administration's initial handling of the incident and for inflicting fear in all LSHS LGBTQ+ students in regards to their physical and mental safety at the school.