A substitute teacher in Utah has reportedly been fired after delivering a homophobic lecture to a fifth grade class upon hearing an 11-year-old student give thanks that he would soon be adopted by his two foster fathers.
The woman’s outburst at Deerfield Elementary School in Cedar Hills reportedly came after she asked the students to share what they were most thankful for ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, The Salt Lake Tribute reported.
But when it was the boy’s turn to share, the teacher reportedly became unhinged, telling the child: “That’s nothing to be thankful for.”
“Homosexuality is wrong,” the woman told the class, according to the paper. “Two men living together is a sin.”
When the teacher ignored the other students’ requests to stop ranting, three girls left the room and got the principal, who then escorted the woman out of the building, according to one of the boy’s fathers, Louis Van Amstel.
He expressed his gratitude to the girls and the principal in a Facebook video shortly after the incident on Nov. 22, saying he was told that the substitute would never be allowed to work at the school again.
″‘D’ has been in foster care for years,” Louis Van Amstel told Fox 13 News of his son, “and has been through two failed adoptions, so his thankfulness was genuine.”
He added that the entire situation scarred his son, who worried that it would make his dads no longer want to formally adopt him on December 19.
Louis Van Amstel and his husband, Josh, said they assured their son that they couldn’t be more proud of him.
When the family returned home the following day, they found that their neighbors had covered their front door and garage with messages of love and support.
“So much good has come from this one ugly act that it’s amazing to know we live in the right community,” Josh Van Amstel told Fox 13 News.