Fifth graders stand up to homophobic teacher who made rude remarks to a boy with two dads

For years, same-sex couples faced countless barriers in their pursuit to adopt children and grow their families. Although things have improved substantially today, with all 50 US states protecting their legal right to parenthood, LGBTQ couples and their children still face prejudice from bigoted folks at times.Unfortunately, this was the case for a fifth grader who had to face rude remarks from a homophobic substitute teacher at Deerfield Elementary School in Cedar Hills, Utah. The incident occurred a week before Thanksgiving in 2019, reports The Salt Lake Tribune. The teacher had asked the class to reveal what they were thankful for that year and all students came up with their answers.

When it was this particular boy's turn to speak, he said he was "thankful for finally getting to be adopted by his two dads." The substitute teacher snapped at him and questioned, "Why was he happy about that." She went on to preach her views on homosexuality to all the 30 kids in the class, telling them it is considered a sin if two men live together. She even told the boy there was nothing to be thankful for. At that point, two of the boy's classmates tried to stop the teacher and upon failing to do so, they walked out of the class to fetch the principal.

The substitute teacher was still trying to justify her bigoted viewpoint while getting escorted out of the school building. School officials informed the boy's fathers about the incident. "She also tried to blame our son," said one of the boy's dads, Louis Van Amstel. "And told him that it was his fault that she went off." When Amstel and his husband, Josh, were called to school after the incident, their 11-year-old son was initially unwilling to talk about the teacher and get her in trouble. However, school authorities figured out what went down after collecting multiple accounts from students in the class.

Kelly Services, a staffing company that works with schools in the district to help them hire substitute teachers, released a statement about the incident, per the news outlet. "We are concerned about any reports of inappropriate behavior and take these matters very seriously," the staffing company stated. "We conduct business based on the highest standards of integrity, quality and professional excellence. We're looking into this situation." Later, Kelly Services confirmed that the substitute teacher had been fired.

Meanwhile, Amstel is thankful for the three girls in his son's class who decided to speak up against the teacher. The boy named Daniel was reportedly afraid that his dads would rethink their decision after he faced two failed adoption processes. This was also why he decided not to speak up against the substitute teacher. "He was so fearful that this could make us think that we don't want to adopt him," Amstel revealed to the news outlet. "That's not going to happen. But this situation hurt him. This person hurt us."

"We are committed to having the best employees who care about all children in our schools, whether it be the teacher, the custodian, the secretary or a substitute teacher. Obviously, when situations come up like this, we quickly investigate and take appropriate action. That was done in this situation," the Alpine School District's spokesman, David Stephenson, noted and applauded the three girls who came forward to report the substitute teacher. "I just have an amazing set of kids here," Caroline Knadler, the school principal, said. "I think they showed some pretty amazing citizenship. It makes me feel warm inside."

Amstel's neighborhood community also came forward to show their support after this incident became public knowledge and decorated their houses with paper hearts that said "We love you" and "We support you." Amstel and Josh successfully adopted Daniel the following month. Amstel expressed that he is thankful for those people who spoke in their favor and was proud of how his son answered the homophobic substitute teacher's question. He also took to his X account, @LouisVanAmstel, to share a video on this entire experience.