The family of a student athlete at Fairless High School in Stark County, Ohio has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit citing more than two dozen instances of discrimination and harassment suffered by the student after he was outed as gay by a fellow student, the Columbus Dispatch reports. The student was not identified by name.
According to the lawsuit, much of the discrimination came from the student's coach Kevin Bille, who had previously told the teen he had college basketball potential. The lawsuit also claims the coach gave the teen punitive workouts, said he didn't have to pray because of his hatred for Jesus, called him weak and told him to feel the coach's muscles, refused to allow him to meet college recruiters, and gave him a “certificate of participation” instead of a varsity letter, though one student who had never played received a letter.
The lawsuit lists a litany of other complaints and names “the Fairless Local school board; Superintendent Broc Bidlack; high school Principal Larry Chambliss; assistant Principal Mike Hall; school board President Ken Killian; teachers Janice Courtney, Denise Meredith and Chris Roberts; and Bille” as defendants, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
