![\"buchanan\"](\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/buchanan.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA high school in Fresno, California has denied claims that a student production of Jean-Paul Sartre\u2019s <\/span>No Exit<\/span><\/i>\u00a0was cancelled because the play features a gay<\/a> character.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the Fresno Bee<\/a><\/em>, Buchanan High student Jared Serpa (right), who directed the play, has claimed that school administrators shut down the production because an audience member said it could force parents to have uncomfortable conversations with their children.<\/span><\/p>\n Plays with gay<\/a> characters isn’t the only thing that makes Clovis Unified uncomfortable\u2026#bringbacknoexit<\/a>t.co\/tuioOM5XUZ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The Fresnan (@thefresnan) January 24, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This obviously has to do with CUSD catering to homophobic ideology and rhetoric. We realize Buchanan’s a good school. Please dig deeper<\/p>\n \u2014 Nicholas Crespin (@CrespinNicholas) January 21, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In a video<\/a> posted on Twitter<\/a>, Serpa said:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo. That just shows how cowardice the parent is for not talking to their child about reality and telling them that the world that they live<\/a> in isn\u2019t perfectly heterosexual like they want it to be.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTalk with your children about reality. Don\u2019t put them in this bubble and darkness\u2026because you couldn\u2019t find the courage to talk to your own child about the fact that people are different.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Watch:<\/p>\n a main point\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/8Eb7Jf5jrC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jared Serpa (@shortclayton) January 21, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n A <\/span>petition<\/b><\/a> on Change.org<\/a> states:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe reason we were given for the cancellation was something along the lines of there\u2019s a lesbian<\/a> character and some parents may have to explain to their child that some women<\/a> love other women<\/a>. That our audience doesn\u2019t approve of homosexuality, and we should be playing to our audience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n However, Clovis Unified School District spokesperson Kelly Avants said that the production was pulled because of sexual themes and other mature content.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe own the fact that it should never have even been approved as a senior production in the first place. Being a K-12 institution, the expectation of our drama programs is that every production they do is to be age-appropriate content,\u201d said Avants.<\/span><\/p>\n She added that the district has \u201cdone multiple other shows at the high school level that includes lesbian<\/a>, gay<\/a> or questioning characters. We would never think that that was reason to cancel a play, and certainly not after the play\u2019s already going.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The petition has been signed by close to 3,500 people.<\/span><\/p>\n A <\/span>crowdfunding campaign<\/b><\/a> to allow students to host the play off campus has raised more than $1,000.<\/span><\/p>\n The Fresno Art Museum has offered to stage the play in its Bonner Auditorium. However, no decision has yet been made on that offer.<\/span><\/p>\n (Jared Serpa image via Twitter<\/a>)<\/p>\n The post Student Director Rips School District\u2019s Cowardly Parents After Play is Cancelled Over Gay Character: VIDEO<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a>The play includes\u00a0a lesbian<\/a> postal clerk who turns a woman<\/a> against her husband.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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