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![\"Nathan](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/etter.jpg?resize=195%2C195\")
<\/p>\nHundreds Turn Out to Support Gay Teacher Reprimanded After Husband Sent Him Flowers<\/b>
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Parents and students from\u00a0Prairie View Grade School in Burlington, Illinois, on the outskirts of the Chicago area, rallied (above) for gay music teacher Nathan Etter on Monday night<\/a> ahead of a school board meeting regarding a months-long controversy.<\/p>\n The controversy? Etter\u2019s husband had sent him flowers on Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n Etter, 30, who has been married to Philip Etter since August, said he used the interaction as a \u201cteachable moment,\u201d making very brief comments about respect and tolerance and explaining how some families have two moms or two dads.<\/p>\n According to administrators in Kane County-based Central Unit School District 301, the parent of one student contacted the district with \u201cserious concerns\u201d about Etter\u2019s comments, prompting the principal to meet with the teacher to learn more about what had occurred.<\/p>\n Etter was reportedly scolded and told by the principal to \u201cstick to the curriculum\u201d according to the teachers union. Etter would like an apology, and much of the school agrees.<\/p>\n More than 100 students and parents turned out to rally for Etter before a board meeting at which he got a standing ovation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would never have happened if Nathan had been sent flowers from his wife,\u201d Etter\u2019s husband told NBC5.<\/p>\n The post Hundreds Turn Out to Support Gay Teacher Reprimanded After Husband Sent Him Flowers<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Nathan](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/etter.jpg?resize=225%2C120\")
Some of Etter\u2019s students had asked him about the flowers, so he explained to them where they came from. When a few of the students reacted negatively using words like \u201ceww\u201d and \u201cgross,\u201d Etter decided to use it as a \u201cteachable moment,\u201d the Chicago Tribune reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n