An Idaho high school student paid a high price for stating the simple truth that we are the gender that we are, and that price keeps getting higher.
Travis Lohr, an 18-year-old now-former student at Kellogg High School, went off-script in a high school assembly where seniors render advice to younger classmates.
He told them that “girls are girls, and guys are guys. There is no in-between.” For this blasphemy, he was denied his chance to walk with his class at graduation, and now he reported that a career opportunity has been withdrawn.
Interviewed on Sunday’s “Fox & Friends,” Lohr revealed that a firefighting job offer has now been rescinded after the controversy.
The Idaho Tribune reported that over 100 parents, students, and community members participated in a protest Friday in support of the student. This followed the decision by school administration to prohibit him from participating in his graduation with his classmates.
Over 100 parents and students protested Kellogg High School's decision to punish a student for saying "Guys are guys and girls are girls. There is no in-between."
In spite of today's protest, Travis Lohr will not be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony. pic.twitter.com/lS9gMsiZwl
— Idaho Tribune (@IdahoTribune) June 2, 2023
After Friday’s protest, school officials decided to reschedule the ceremony to Saturday morning over “safety concerns.” Superintendent Lance Pearson said graduation was held “without a hitch.”
Lohr told the host that he did not have ill intent. “I didn’t direct it at any groups or anything like that; it was just something I chose to say in the moment.” He recounted that the audience erupted in cheers.
Lohr told Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy Sunday that an offer he had received to work for the Forest Service was rescinded after his remarks. He was supposed to start Sunday, but as he went to complete his final paperwork, he was told the offer was no more.
He added that he believes he would not have been punished if he had said something such as Black lives matter. “For this to happen over what I said, it’s just controversial…If people speak up like I did…it seems frowned upon. You can be punished for it, obviously, like I’m being punished.”
The outpouring of community support was joined by at least one Idaho politician.
State Representative Heather Scott (R) called the school’s action “unacceptable” in a Friday tweet. She further described Lohr’s statement to the underclassmen as a “scientific fact.”
Lohr told Fox News that it’s “part of life, as I am learning, and I am going to continue to grow from here. I’m not going to dwell on it.”
