OT: Kentucky high school removes gay basketball player from yearbook page

Apparently, if you don't like that an athlete is gay, you just remove his yearbook picture, and he *poof* doesn't exist anymore. As a proud Kentuckian, I find this embarrassing...

http://www.outsports.com/2015/8/12/9...lton-maldonado

That's just wrong.

To borrow a quote from Barry Goldwater: "I don't care if he IS straight... I want to know if he can SHOOT straight."

You've got a buddy in the "a kid isn't an unperson" business,

Warren (the M is concerned, however, by the fact the kid is going to UL.)

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Originally Posted by Warren

To borrow a quote from Barry Goldwater: "I don't care if he IS straight... I want to know if he can SHOOT straight."

You've got a buddy in the "a kid isn't an unperson" business,

Warren (the M is concerned, however, by the fact the kid is going to UL.)

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Great quote, Warren.

And an "LOL" and "Agreed" as per your concern.

Being reported on the Louisville local TV news right now.

Yuck. I guess if you look at a gay guy in the yearbook, you might, you know, like turn gay or something?

If the goal was to harm the movement..it's a huge fail. If it were to harm the student..it's borderline criminal.

I sense a major lawsuit is a solid option

Just a cluster#$%^@ of a high school administration.

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Originally Posted by Philly Cat

Yuck. I guess if you look at a gay guy in the yearbook, you might, you know, like turn gay or something?

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Admit it, when you looked at his picture, "it" moved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knu1lT2DSb4

“First off, the Floyd County School System holistically supports Dalton Maldonado just as we do all our students,” Webb said. “He is a great athlete and a great person. We are one of the only school districts in the country who put out a yearbook-style annual that covers every school in the system. That’s where this came up, and Dalton was featured in 15 photos throughout the book. We counted. He’s featured in the most spirited section and the school pride section and in multiple cases he’s pictured playing basketball, which makes sense because he was a great player for us. He was a very popular student, and we support him.

“After I learned of his omission this morning, I launched a full investigation. At this point, what I’ve been able to glean is that he was left out by sheer human error. There were other students left out of other activities as well, which happens in a district-wide publication like this. It’s unfortunate. If the investigation determines that the student was taken out of the section for some other reason, whoever is responsible will face swift and serious consequences.”

Those certainly sound like responsible words from Webb, and the right direction for the school district. While it might be too late to put Maldonado back among the seniors on the school’s basketball page, at least he’ll be able to know that he wasn’t left out on purpose … or that if he was, the person responsible will have to deal with serious repercussions.

http://usatodayhss.com/2015/dalton-m...yearbook-photo

I'm doubting the entire premise a bit. Yearbooks are not put together by HS principals, but primarily by students. I'd rather be informed of both sides of the story before coming to a conclusion.

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Originally Posted by Darrell KSR

“First off, the Floyd County School System holistically supports Dalton Maldonado just as we do all our students,” Webb said. “He is a great athlete and a great person. We are one of the only school districts in the country who put out a yearbook-style annual that covers every school in the system. That’s where this came up, and Dalton was featured in 15 photos throughout the book. We counted. He’s featured in the most spirited section and the school pride section and in multiple cases he’s pictured playing basketball, which makes sense because he was a great player for us. He was a very popular student, and we support him.

“After I learned of his omission this morning, I launched a full investigation. At this point, what I’ve been able to glean is that he was left out by sheer human error (cough... bull####... cough) There were other students left out of other activities as well, which happens in a district-wide publication like this. It’s unfortunate. If the investigation determines that the student was taken out of the section for some other reason, whoever is responsible will face swift and serious consequences.”

Those certainly sound like responsible words from Webb, and the right direction for the school district. While it might be too late to put Maldonado back among the seniors on the school’s basketball page, at least he’ll be able to know that he wasn’t left out on purpose … or that if he was, the person responsible will have to deal with serious repercussions.

http://usatodayhss.com/2015/dalton-m...yearbook-photo

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.

I wrote a ballad about our football team my senior year. It was the Ballad of the Lions, and I did it as a school project in my English class.

"Twas the fall of 77, and good were the times
For our football team, the Ouachita Lions."

Anyway, it went on for two pages. They asked permission to publish the ballad in the yearbook, as we had an historic season. In fact, I had to get an extension on the project because the team continued winning against all odds. It was pretty cool, and even our season-ending loss was pretty remarkable.

So the yearbook came out, and sure enough, spread over two pages in the yearbook, was the Ballad of the Lions.

Without my name. No reference whatsoever. They screwed up. I received a million apologies, I had classmates write my name in their yearbook "so when they were old and senile, they'd still remember," etc.

Human error.

I'm not suggesting this is human error. Just that it's a possibility. The kid was in the district-wide annual 15 other times (obviously, however, not in such a prominent spot). It's a possibility that it was a screw-up.

Or it was intentional. I'm not taking sides. Wrong no matter what, but was it negligent or intentional? Raises the stakes, obviously.

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Originally Posted by Darrell KSR

“First off, the Floyd County School System holistically supports Dalton Maldonado just as we do all our students,” Webb said. “He is a great athlete and a great person. We are one of the only school districts in the country who put out a yearbook-style annual that covers every school in the system. That’s where this came up, and Dalton was featured in 15 photos throughout the book. We counted. He’s featured in the most spirited section and the school pride section and in multiple cases he’s pictured playing basketball, which makes sense because he was a great player for us. He was a very popular student, and we support him.

“After I learned of his omission this morning, I launched a full investigation. At this point, what I’ve been able to glean is that he was left out by sheer human error. There were other students left out of other activities as well, which happens in a district-wide publication like this. It’s unfortunate. If the investigation determines that the student was taken out of the section for some other reason, whoever is responsible will face swift and serious consequences.”

Those certainly sound like responsible words from Webb, and the right direction for the school district. While it might be too late to put Maldonado back among the seniors on the school’s basketball page, at least he’ll be able to know that he wasn’t left out on purpose … or that if he was, the person responsible will have to deal with serious repercussions.

http://usatodayhss.com/2015/dalton-m...yearbook-photo

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I can fully believe the admission was inadvertent, having assembled yearbooks, and having worked with students for over twenty years I have to admit I have made such errors myself.

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Originally Posted by KeithKSR

I can fully believe the admission was inadvertent, having assembled yearbooks, and having worked with students for over twenty years I have to admit I have made such errors myself.

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You forgot to include the starting point guard, in the state of Kentucky? That would be a bit like putting out a picture of the government & forgetting to include the President. :sign0141: Of course if I did that today, and I claimed it was "accidental" I doubt you would believe me. :happy0030:

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Originally Posted by Philly Cat

Yuck. I guess if you look at a gay guy in the yearbook, you might, you know, like turn gay or something?

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Depends on how good looking he is I guess. :)


As Darrell has quoted, I doubt it was intentional, and if so it is highly unlikely it was policy and maybe a student doing some editing, but I still bet it was just coincidence. Not much point in having him on the team, otherwise including him, then dropping him in just one spot.

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Originally Posted by Doc

You forgot to include the starting point guard, in the state of Kentucky? That would be a bit like putting out a picture of the government & forgetting to include the President. :sign0141: Of course if I did that today, and I claimed it was "accidental" I doubt you would believe me. :happy0030:

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You don't do enough catalogs. :) I agree it's a big oversight, but not impossible to have happen. There have been many such errors in yearbooks over the years.

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Originally Posted by CitizenBBN

You don't do enough catalogs. :) I agree it's a big oversight, but not impossible to have happen. There have been many such errors in yearbooks over the years.

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No but I've forgotten to tie off an artery or two.

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Originally Posted by Doc

No but I've forgotten to tie off an artery or two.

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oops. :)

For some reason that made me think of Dan Aykroyd as Julia Child. "Remember, save the liver!"

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Originally Posted by Doc

You forgot to include the starting point guard, in the state of Kentucky? That would be a bit like putting out a picture of the government & forgetting to include the President. :sign0141: Of course if I did that today, and I claimed it was "accidental" I doubt you would believe me. :happy0030:

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Yearbooks are primarily assembled by students, most of those are not into sports. If there was an intentional omission he wouldn't be in the yearbook 15 other times. The President-PG analogy is probably apt, a number of citizens cannot name the President.

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Originally Posted by KeithKSR

Yearbooks are primarily assembled by students, most of those are not into sports. If there was an intentional omission he wouldn't be in the yearbook 15 other times. The President-PG analogy is probably apt, a number of citizens cannot name the President.

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Maybe. I would like this to be a case of simple human error.

But unless HS has changed a lot since the Middle Ages when I attended, and unless this small KY town is more tolerant than the Castro in San Francisco, I have a feeling that almost every kid in school would know the guy who came out as gay. For better or worse, I would bet even the yearbook kids would know about him... which would make his exclusion from the basketball page less likely to be simple error.

But, again, I hope it was simple error.

I don't buy it...and I wish I could.

A new class of coincidence would have to be created imho.

When you're dealing with this particular constituency, nothing is ever human error, still less simple decision making based on other considerations. It's always an intentional, hate-filled conspiracy against them.

Last year, the physical plant department at Davidson College put out an email asking students not to fly national flags, confederate flags, rainbow flags, whatever flags, out their dorm room windows, because it looked tacky and didn't represent the school well in the community. Was this about flags? Are you kidding me? It was an institution-wide conspiracy to hate the GLBT alphabet soup and suppress their right to whatever and whatever and whatever. It got to the point where the president of what is one of the most gay-friendly institutions in the country had to send an email to the entire list, parents and all, affirming whatever and whatever.

This looks like more of that.

I disagree with the lifestyle, but can't bring myself to any other conclusion than the chances of it being a random omission are extremely low.

And the likelihood of it being intentional just the opposite.

Now, their motives might be a little more involved than just targeting the young man, and lean more toward revenge for past problems with the pro-gay media outlet (Outsports) reporting the issue. But the history itself makes it hard to believe this wasn't intentional and a cruel form of retribution.

Heads completely out of the sand now..the odds of this omission not being related are astronomical gang.

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Originally Posted by kingcat

I don't buy it...and I wish I could.

A new class of coincidence would have to be created imho.

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Why?

I confess, I don't see the logic.

Somebody was omitted.

He was gay.

Therefore it was because he was gay?

That's a logical fallacy. Where's the connection?

I ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast today. My son's soccer team lost tonight. Did one cause the other?

Our #1 golfer was omitted from our yearbook. He was a smoker.

Was he victimized because he smoked, and none of the rest of us did?

He was also overweight. Picture a slightly heavier Craig Stadler. Was he omitted because of his weight?

I hear victimology often. Maybe the one omission was intentional, and they missed the other pictures. And if it was intentional, maybe it was because he was gay.

Or maybe it was because the editor dated the player who was beaten out for his position by him. And maybe the editor is gay.

Look - there seems to be legitimate cause for concern, if the kid can be believed. If he had someone tell him, affiliated with the school, that it was intentional, and it was because of his sexual orientation. Do you believe the kid? I don't know him, but maybe he's trustworthy.

But if that's not true, the mere fact that a gay person was omitted is no more indicative of the reason than if you found someone robbed a bank, and that person was gay and you claimed it was because he was gay.

JMO. We've been burned by sensationalized newspaper headlines and false claims of victimization before. This one wouldn't shock me either way.

Apparently the kid is in the yearbook 15 times. The fact that it is not 16 is hate? Gotcha.

The fact he was in there 15 other times says a lot. Could be the one person working on the basketball page did it on purpose and no one did a suitable job of reviewing all the pages.

Funny story Darrell, I wrote a long ballad about our basketball team that won the district for the first time in decades. It made the yearbook without my name as well! Great minds.

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Originally Posted by ETWNAPPEL

Funny story Darrell, I wrote a long ballad about our basketball team that won the district for the first time in decades. It made the yearbook without my name as well! Great minds.

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Oh, that is too funny.

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Originally Posted by Darrell KSR

Why?

I confess, I don't see the logic.

Somebody was omitted.

He was gay.

Therefore it was because he was gay?

That's a logical fallacy. Where's the connection?

I ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast today. My son's soccer team lost tonight. Did one cause the other?

Our #1 golfer was omitted from our yearbook. He was a smoker.

Was he victimized because he smoked, and none of the rest of us did?

He was also overweight. Picture a slightly heavier Craig Stadler. Was he omitted because of his weight?

I hear victimology often. Maybe the one omission was intentional, and they missed the other pictures. And if it was intentional, maybe it was because he was gay.

Or maybe it was because the editor dated the player who was beaten out for his position by him. And maybe the editor is gay.

Look - there seems to be legitimate cause for concern, if the kid can be believed. If he had someone tell him, affiliated with the school, that it was intentional, and it was because of his sexual orientation. Do you believe the kid? I don't know him, but maybe he's trustworthy.

But if that's not true, the mere fact that a gay person was omitted is no more indicative of the reason than if you found someone robbed a bank, and that person was gay and you claimed it was because he was gay.

JMO. We've been burned by sensationalized newspaper headlines and false claims of victimization before. This one wouldn't shock me either way.

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The history of the situation must be taken into account. And that history is well documented and strained, at best.

The examples above don't fit imo.
Really, as I see it your last paragraph affords the young man a good argument. Depending on ones viewpoint, the school had been burned previously by sensationalized newspaper headlines and false claims of victimization relating to this young man and his sexual preference.

Since there is a long history here between the news outlet, the young man, and the school system including his school, the circumstantial evidence must be weighed in to form a conclusion. I think it weighs in heavily myself.

It's my understanding that the omitted picture was on the basketball team photos page. He's supposed to be the team's best player. If it had been anywhere else I could agree that it was a mistake. But to omit the picture of the basketball team's best player? In KY? There was something else going on.

Geez! What difference does it make whether the kid is gay? So what? He's a kid in high school, for crying out loud! He's on the team, he's on the team. Accept & acknowledge it.
How much more hateful can they be to this kid?

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Originally Posted by suncat05

Geez! What difference does it make whether the kid is gay?

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Well, it seems to be one of the things that matter most to him and his most vigorous advocates. So it seems to make a considerable difference.

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Originally Posted by Darrell KSR

Why?

I confess, I don't see the logic.

Somebody was omitted.

He was gay.

Therefore it was because he was gay?

That's a logical fallacy. Where's the connection?

I ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast today. My son's soccer team lost tonight. Did one cause the other?

Our #1 golfer was omitted from our yearbook. He was a smoker.

Was he victimized because he smoked, and none of the rest of us did?

He was also overweight. Picture a slightly heavier Craig Stadler. Was he omitted because of his weight?

I hear victimology often. Maybe the one omission was intentional, and they missed the other pictures. And if it was intentional, maybe it was because he was gay.

Or maybe it was because the editor dated the player who was beaten out for his position by him. And maybe the editor is gay.

Look - there seems to be legitimate cause for concern, if the kid can be believed. If he had someone tell him, affiliated with the school, that it was intentional, and it was because of his sexual orientation. Do you believe the kid? I don't know him, but maybe he's trustworthy.

But if that's not true, the mere fact that a gay person was omitted is no more indicative of the reason than if you found someone robbed a bank, and that person was gay and you claimed it was because he was gay.

JMO. We've been burned by sensationalized newspaper headlines and false claims of victimization before. This one wouldn't shock me either way.

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Are you aware of his situation with his school administration? There was a situation of some slurs being used in a basketball game in Lexington and an article was done about it. The schools involved then launched an investigation into the situation, and despite some pretty good documentation on the part of the reporter, both schools administrations deemed the harrassment as not happening and stated that the original article on the incident was basically a "fabrication", despite eyewitnessess that were on the record. So then when the yearbook thing happens it is hard for those that are familiar with the situation to believe that this "human error". I have always believed there is no such thing as a coincidence, and this would be one hell of a coincidence and one that borders on the absurd. Here is the sequence of articles that show the situation Dalton has been involved with that lead up to his picture being omitted by "human error" from the basketball page of his yearbook. BTW, the "he is in the yearbook 15 times" excuse is about as asinine as can be, and certainly to me shows the callous nature of the "human error", apparently he was an involved member of the high school, so he got his picture in the yearbook a lot, but when it came time to include him with his fellow seniors, as part of a senior honor that everyone got, he was omitted by quote human error unquote, sorry doesn't pass the smell test to me.


First article containing original accusations:

http://www.outsports.com/2015/4/1/83...tball-kentucky


Second Article about the "fabricated" first article:

http://www.outsports.com/2015/6/18/8...l-kentucky-911


Article about the yearbook omission:

http://www.outsports.com/2015/8/12/9...lton-maldonado


Dalton's response to "investigation" into "human error" explanation:

http://www.outsports.com/2015/8/12/9...donado-picture

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Originally Posted by Philly Cat

Maybe. I would like this to be a case of simple human error.

But unless HS has changed a lot since the Middle Ages when I attended, and unless this small KY town is more tolerant than the Castro in San Francisco, I have a feeling that almost every kid in school would know the guy who came out as gay. For better or worse, I would bet even the yearbook kids would know about him... which would make his exclusion from the basketball page less likely to be simple error.

But, again, I hope it was simple error.

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Miss Fuchs who was in my graduating class back in the day was upset when her name was misspelled. Folks, it happens. In her case it was an honest mistake at the printer. Once 500 of those things have been distributed and people has written in them, there is not much that can be done. To her credit she and her family graciously accepted the story and the apology. I believe a lot of people need to follow suit. Not every omission, not every error is a slight. GOI - get over it.

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Originally Posted by MTcatfan

various links to articles

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Have your read those articles? Did you notice all the weasel words that let the writer be technically correct without asserting much of anything that one could not drive a Mack truck through at the crucial points?

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Originally Posted by elicat

Well, it seems to be one of the things that matter most to him and his most vigorous advocates. So it seems to make a considerable difference.

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I think you mistook my point. I wasn't saying anything against him. He's a kid in high school. Acknowledge that for what it is. He's a kid in high school.
Now, if he's been militant & vociferous about it, then I can see where his position may have rubbed some people the wrong way. But that doesn't give anyone the right to treat him any differently than any other kid in that school, straight, gay, or otherwise.

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Originally Posted by elicat

Have your read those articles? Did you notice all the weasel words that let the writer be technically correct without asserting much of anything that one could not drive a Mack truck through?

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Yes I have read the articles. if you read the second article the reporter tells you he interviewed Dalton, a teammate and an assistant coach and all told the same story with a few minor details different, then AFTER the investigation claiming the original article was a fabrication the reporter interviewed a parent of a teammate, who once again CORROBORATED what the previous 3 witnesses told him. Dalton also saved the text messages he received after the original incident, of which one thread is published in the second article defending the first article. They also have a 911 dispatch where the dispatcher classified the 911 call as pertaining to a "terroristic threat", so unless the caller was lying to the dispatcher, why did the dispatcher come to the conclusion what they were hearing was a "terroristic threat".

So there was plenty of facts to go with the opining in the original article, and the reporter added more facts in his second article. If the reporters opining offended you, understand he is doing it based on the facts that he discovered, and is doing it in a format, SB Nation, where facts and opinions are regularly interlaced in articles. I mean how many places now report stories in this exact same way, SB Nation, Grantland, and a million other "blog" spots report news this way.

I suppose every time there is a situation like this, we can just say "probably due to human error".

I guess that can be said pertaining to just about anything, but as MTcatfan has asserted, there's a history BEFORE this alleged "misprint".

Somehow the point guard, best player, and only known gay athlete in his school, recently coming out no less, gets left off of the ONE place where he is most famous to the community AND his school. The fact that homophobia has been deeply entrenched in "manly" realms such as athletics for a dog's age could not be considered by some on this thread as a possible realm wherein this might happen in THIS instance too.

Maybe it was the student(s) and/or admins from the school who put the yearbook page together and it really was an oopsie, but like kingcat has contended, this quacks too much like a duck to be a goose.

JMO.

Another story, this time by a coach (opinion piece)...

http://www.outsports.com/2015/8/12/9...etball-coaches

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Originally Posted by Krank

The fact that homophobia

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So you're saying there are a lot of people there who are irrationally afraid of sameness?

(This word is a piece of Newspeak. Diagnosing people who do not agree with you with a faux psychotic disorder is Stalinism of the purest water.)

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Originally Posted by Krank

I suppose every time there is a situation like this, we can just say "probably due to human error".

I guess that can be said pertaining to just about anything, but as MTcatfan has asserted, there's a history BEFORE this alleged "misprint".

Somehow the point guard, best player, and only known gay athlete in his school, recently coming out no less, gets left off of the ONE place where he is most famous to the community AND his school. The fact that homophobia has been deeply entrenched in "manly" realms such as athletics for a dog's age could not be considered by some on this thread as a possible realm wherein this might happen in THIS instance too.

Maybe it was the student(s) and/or admins from the school who put the yearbook page together and it really was an oopsie, but like kingcat has contended, this quacks too much like a duck to be a goose.

JMO.

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Yes, it would be a bit like forgetting to put Karl Towns Bio in a UK publication and then trying to claim they forgot. This is Kentucky, this is basketball. He wasn't the 3 string QB or he didn't write a poem. He was the starting PG, the teams best player and recently came out as being gay, and was the target of much backlash and harassment. He wasn't an unknown. Sure it could have been an error of omission when it was put together...or it could have been the publisher forgot to include that page...or it could have been the yearbook fairy (no pun intended) came in the middle of the night and made that section disappear by waving her magic wand....but I don't think that happened.