Rep. Jared Polis prompts CO school to outsource review of its ban of gay grad's commencement speech

Longmont, CO's Twin Peaks Charter Academy will now have outside lawyers review its decision to stop Valedictorian Evan Young from coming out in a commencement speech after Polis called for an independent investigation.

     The events in Longmont, near Boulder, contrast with a decision by a school in the Colorado mountain town of Carbondale to allow its valedictorian to come out in a graduation speech that earned a standing ovation. That valedictorian's principal, expressing concern about the high rates of suicide and other problems encountered by teens labeled as different, praised her courage and said her speech would help all students feel accepted.
     In Longmont, Twin Peaks board president Kathy DeMatteo wrote to Polis earlier this week that officials do not "believe that a discussion of a student's sexual orientation — no matter what that sexual orientation happens to be — is a proper matter for a commencement address."
     DeMatteo said Evan Young was barred from delivering his speech not because he is gay but because of his "apparent intention to make a mockery" of the ceremony.