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Ga. teacher plans protest to support Texas student’s planned Gay/Straight Alliance

The Georgia Voice Editors
GeorgiaNews
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Dave Dixon was fired from his job as a high school drama teacher after a lesson on bullyingA Georgia drama teacher who was fired last year for showing a scene from the gay-themed film “The Reckoning” to his class is planning a protest in support of a Texas high school student who has tried unsuccessfully to establish a gay/straight alliance at her school.

Nikki Peet of Corpus Christi first approached Flour Bluff school officials in November with the idea of establishing a GSA, only to be told by officials, including school principal James Crenshaw, that such a club would not be approved, according to Corpus Christi NBC affiliate KRIS.

The school has since canceled all extra-curricular activities rather than allow the GSA to form. Calls to the school's principal and public information coordinator went unreturned.

FBI aids investigation of arson attack on Carroll County gay man

The Georgia Voice Editors
GeorgiaNews
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The FBI is helping to investigate a fire at the home of a gay Carroll County man to determine if the suspected arson is a hate crime.

If federal prosecutors decide the alleged attack on Christopher Staples fits the criteria, it would likely be the first case in Georgia charged under the new Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, according to Atlanta FBI spokesperson Stephen Emmett.

"The FBI is in a supportive role in this investigation, but the investigation itself remains with Carroll County authorities," Emmett told the GA Voice. 

Asked what specifically the FBI is doing in the case, "I won't elaborate other than initial crime scene assessment and any additional lab submittals that Carroll County deems necessary — those types of matters," Emmett said.