School requests federal review after backlash over cutting off LGBTQ graduation speech

A New Jersey school district is requesting a federal civil rights review to determine whether it discriminated against a high school valedictorian by allegedly cutting off his graduation speech about his queer identity.

Eastern Regional High School has faced backlash this week after video circulated of its principal appearing to cut the microphone off while Bryce Dershem was attempting to speak about being queer, his struggles with online school during the pandemic and his fight with suicidal thoughts and anorexia, then taking a paper copy of the speech from him. 

Eastern Regional Camden County High School District Superintendent Robert Cloutier told the Courier Post the district’s attorney filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in Cherry Hill.

Cloutier said he told attorney Anthony Padovani “to contact an appropriate government agency to conduct an independent review,” according to the outlet.

“There is an act of discrimination that is now being alleged against us,” Padovani said. “We can’t really conduct our investigation … let an independent see if we did anything wrong. That’s fair.”

The school said it works with students on every speech given during graduations, which are then preapproved by the school.

“Every year, all student speakers are assisted in shaping the speech, and all student speeches — which are agreed upon and approved in advance — are kept in the binder on the podium for the principal to conduct the graduation ceremony,” Cloutier said.

Dershem says the school forced him to take out mentions of him dealing with suicidal thoughts, anorexia and his queer identity, which the school denies.

“No student was asked to remove their personal identity from any speech before or during graduation,” Cloutier previously said.

Before his speech got cut off, Dersham said, “After I came out as queer freshman year, I felt so alone. I didn’t know who to turn to.”

Cloutier went up and took the speech from him and told him to do the preapproved speech in the binder on the podium. Dershem continued with his speech about his identity that he had memorized.