Gay Michigan student defends suspended teacher

A 14-year-old who issued an impassioned defense of a suspended teacher has become a bit of an Internet folk hero in a new viral video. Over the weekend, gossip blogger Perez Hilton and several other high-traffic sites picked up the video, which features the dramatic testimonial of Ann Arbor, Mich., teen Graeme Taylor. Taylor told the Howell, Mich., school board last week that he attempted suicide at age 9 because he was bullied for being gay. He was speaking on behalf of Howell High teacher Jay McDowell, who had been suspended for two days for asking a student to remove her Confederate flag belt buckle and for ejecting two students from class after a heated exchange about gay rights.

source: 'Gay Michigan student defends suspended teacher'; current.com/news/92801562_gay-michigan-student-defends-suspended-teacher.htm; Current; 15 November 2010