Jeez. After a prolonged controversy that caused students, parents, and other concerned citizens to question possible anti-queer censorship at Corona del Mar High School, the principal has finally agreed to allow CDM’s drama department to stage a “school version” of the Tony Award & Pulitzer Prize winning play.
A high school production of “Rent,” whose cancelation triggered complaints of discrimination and homophobia, will be allowed to proceed, district officials announced today.
Corona del Mar High School drama instructor Ron Martin two weeks ago accused his principal of killing the production because of its “homosexual content” – the play features gay characters and a drag queen.
Now I notice Newport-Mesa Unified School District administrators weren’t happy about all the media coverage of the “Rent” controversy…
District Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard blasted coverage of the controversy, saying it cast Corona del Mar High School in an unfair light.
“I have been extraordinarily disappointed that some media outlets chose to react to rumor as opposed to fact regarding both the production of the play, “Rent,” and the reputation of Corona del Mar High School,” Hubbard said in a statement.
Heh. Perhaps he should have told the school’s principal not to say something that could immediately be refuted by any student or school faculty in the know? And perhaps he should have asked the principal not to overreact about a script that’s already been fine-tuned for a teenaged audience? Oh, and how about realizing that LGBT people’s lives aren’t any more “controversial” than those of straight people?