Gay, Mentally Challenged Biracial Male Cheerleader Claims Discrimination

...and as a cheerleader he wants to get laid, too.
Might the congress will find a way.

Mommy dearest ought to be in jail for child abuse.

Wow, how many quotas does he fill anyway?

I guess Harry Reid wants to know about his dialect andRahm Emmanuel thinks he's an effing retard.

Thats not fairrrrrrr for him not to do what he waaaaaants to doooooo!!! I think because he is a gay biracial, mentally chalenged mail cheerleader he should have the right to do ANYTHING he wants to do...... including being a fireman....or a college professor....... or the president of the United States.........after all according to Rahm he qualifies to be a Democrat.
come on people !!!! get real!!!

Since when does everybody have to included in cheer? My step-daughter tried out and didn't make the team. Oh well.

The freak ought to have his butt kicked to the curb.

Does this mean he is "F---ing retarded" like Rammed Emamnuel sez?

Wow, what an enlightened bunch of comments. Congratulations for living up to the racist, redneck stereotype people have of you guys. Seriously guys, grow up.

Gotta agree with Chris Daniels on the previous comments. SMH.

Also, if you go to collegiate level cheering, and in many high schools across the US, there are male cheerleaders. I do not understand why the school had such an issue.

Chris, I was going to say the same thing. You took the words right out of my mouth.

If he can cheer (and it looks like he can, but what do I know) they need to let him do it all the way.

He doesn't seem to be an embarrassment. If he had a uniform (MALE uniform) and was doing the same moves as the girls, he would look just fine. It could be a point of pride for the school, actually.

If he can't cheer (or if other can do it better) then he needs to be dropped from the squad. I'm not sure what all the commotion is about.

Read the article. It says the AD wouldn't let him gyrate his hips like the girls. Sounds like he wants to wear a skimpy outfit, with a skirt up to his waist and jump around like a demented kangaroo. Please.
It's a tough world out there, folks and just because he wants to do it doesn't mean other people want him to do it.
Its like saying that even though I'm short, fat and dumpy, I should be allowed to join Chippendales. The Stones said it best, and this kid should have it tattooed on his arse, "You can't always get what you want."

Maybe because he's mentally challenged and can't coordinate with everyone else, ruining the performance.

Liberals love to bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator, not because of equality, but only to satiate their own guilt and inflate their sense of self-worth.

Calling Diana Moon-Glampers.

Give those other talented cheerleaders both barrels.

:þ

I think this kid needs a hand, I can really relate to his plight as I too was picked on in high school for similar issues. We all need to be tolerant and celebrate the things that make us unique. I think this man is well within his rights to stand up and be counted.

your pal,

Bhaskar Gorti

Male cheerleaders typically don't dance like female cheerleaders, or want to for that matter. They lift them up and cop peeks when appropriate. It doesn't look like he's interested in doing either...

Boy that mother is really a freak. No wonder the kid is so messed up. The school and community should stand their ground against his mental illness, which is really tragic. Let the ACLU sue them. Ignore it. Don't even respond. Let them try and collect from a school, district.

This is an ONION article, right?

Bhaskar Gorti: "I think this man is well within his rights to stand up and be counted."

His rights? To be a cheering cheerleader? Wow, so this is what we have come to, amazing.

I don't think that the issue is that he's bi-racial, gay, mentally challenged or that his hair is puffy: He's just not good, sorry.

This is real life, not your Kumbaya fantasy.

Sheeesh.

"Sounds like he wants to wear a skimpy outfit, with a skirt up to his waist and jump around like a demented kangaroo."
That's what it sounds like to you ken? You read a lot more into this than is said.
"Boy that mother is really a freak."
I watched the video, she seems rather ordinary to me. What did you find so freakish, jon?
"Maybe because he's mentally challenged, can't coordinate with everyone else, ruining the performance."
Yes, because all "mentally challenged" people are physically unable as well, right, DS?
As for the author's comment "Grundy's mother is what you might refer to as a Grizzly Bear" - perhaps you might do so, because it appears to me you wouldn't know any better. Perhaps when you grow up. Until then, I would urge the Seattle Daily Weekly to terminate you from any position which gives you a public forum as it is plain you are unfit for such work.

Not everybody gets what they want. His mother is teaching him that, no matter what you are striving for, if you don't get what you want you should sue because you have been discriminated against, never mind that you are not qualified on any level. Did this kid actually try out? How many others tried out, were better than him, (and better looking - let's be honest, looks really do count here) but didn't get in? Turning this into a discrimination issue? Taking this to Congress? As if our country hasn't already got enough to deal with? His mother should be sooooo ashamed!

This is the ultimate example of the "self esteem" theory of rearing kids. They have "self esteem" when they have done absolutely nothing to deserve it; no skills, no talent, and certainly no sense of shame. They are told they are "perfect just as they are" and other people should cater to them at all costs. Never, ever should they even try to improve themselves or make themselves useful. This is what Liberalism has come down to in this country.

This things mother is eaten up with guilt for producing this genetic defective; that explains her moronic "gimme, gimme" behaviour. At someone else's expense.

Anyone else think that it is about time the ACLU should find something useful to do?

Hi Everyone,

This is Ben's Mom. I would like to clarify some points that were a) missing from the news story due to time constraints, and b) many of you have either asked about or commented on without said information.

1. Yes, Ben was a football cheerleader in his Junior year. He had pom poms and used them for the arch when the team members were introduced. During the game, he used a megaphone. That squad planned a dance routine, but ended up not performing it; and, Ben was not going to be allowed to participate in it. Because they did not perform it, it was a moot issue. His uniform was exactly the same as the girls' on that squad. At that time, except for kicks, Ben did everything else his female teammates did. He was ok with this, but told me that next time, he definitely wanted to do everything, including any dance routines.

2. Due to a lack of availability by potential cheerleaders, there was no football cheer squad this past season. Ben was a one-man recruiting team attempting to get his cheer friends to sign up. He was truly sad there was to be no team, but decided to look ahead to basketball cheerleading.

3. As soon as the basketball cheerleading sign up list came up, Ben signed up along with10 or 11 other people. The staff discussed tryouts, as they only had six cheerleading uniforms (female). They told Ben and me that he would not have to try out, as he was the only boy. I told them that he would most certainly try out, just like everyone else. He even worked on what he thought was an appropriate floor exercise for the tryouts. They ended up not having tryouts as enough people took themselves off the list to leave five girls and Ben. A sixth girl joined at a later date.

While this list was up, the Athletic Director asked Ben why he wanted to be a cheerleader - didn't he know he'd have to perform in front of a large crowd - wouldn't he be happier being the school's mascot? (By the way, performing in front of that same large crowd... probably covered up in said mascot outfit.) When he came home that day, he was very upset and confused. He didn't want to be the mascot, he wanted to be a cheerleader. I called the school and asked the Vice Principal I spoke with if the Athletic Director had heard of the word discrimination. I explained what had happened, was profusely apologized to, and told that, yes, Ben would be a cheerleader if that is what he wanted. I received a similar call from the Athletic Director about 10 minutes later. I figured that would be the end of it and dismissed the matter from my mind, as did Ben. While we have had some issues with the school administration in the past, there had never been anything like this before, and I assumed (you know what they say about that word) there would be no further incidents.

At the first team meeting, Ben asked if he would be able to participate fully and explained the football cheer squad limitations. He and I were told by his coach that he would be a full participant, cheers, dance routines, everything except the pom poms. He wasn't happy about not getting pom poms, but he and I talked about it and decided he could live with that. He was truly excited and happy, as cheering for him was a way to express school spirit and make friends, something those with Asperger's Syndrome find great difficulty in.

After approximately the first week of practice, the coach implied to me that Ben's male anatomy might be moving around. I told her I would get him a jock strap to resolve this potential issue. I was ignored. However, because Ben's ordered uniform had some sort of manufacturing issue, his coach did indeed go and get him a really nice shirt, which she had embroidered, etc. With the warm up pants from his football cheer team and the shirt, he looked like a cheerleader. The shirt was long and the pants were close enough. I went to the first game, and Ben did most of what the girls were doing. He was happy, and therefore, so was I. That was the whole point... that he was doing something that meant a great deal to him.

4. The fact there was even more going on didn't come to my attention until we got back from an out of state holiday during the winter break. Ben and I had notified his coach and the school that we would be out of town, especially as I had to take him out of school a few days early. He ended up getting ill that last week and missed the entire time period. I called the school to inform them he was ill and asked them to not only let his teachers know, but his coach, too. When she called that Monday afternoon, he had been sleeping. That ended up being an unexcused absence as he did not call her - which is why he didn't cheer the first game upon coming back from break. He was told this on the 4th of January at practice. He was also informed that he would not get to participate in the upcoming dance routine due to his not informing the coach he would be gone over winter break. The team had been practicing this routine over the break.

He came home utterly devastated, angry, confused and most certainly heart-broken. I called the coach to discuss the situation and became so angry myself, that before I did or said something I would regret, I told her I couldn't continue the conversation at that time. Then the dam broke and Ben told me all the other things that had been going on. Here's a link to Wikipedia's Asperger's information page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome

Ben tends to hold things in until something happens that brings it all out. He told me that the Athletic Director had continued to pressure him to become the mascot for the school; that his coach was saying the same things; and, that some of his teammates were also telling him to become the mascot. He told me that his coach had begun restricting his movements during cheers. When he asked why, she told him that the older crowd might find it offensive. I was flabbergasted, to put it mildly. So was my older son, home on leave from the Army. We decided a phone call wouldn't be enough this time, as it had apparently not been enough the first time. So we wrote a letter that we sent (yes, to everyone up the school district chain, the A
CLU, Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers, and local TV and News media) to the Principal of the High School delineating the issues and asking for resolution. I gave a suspense date to respond to me with their decision of action.

If anyone is interesting in viewing the correspondence between myself and the school, send me an email at szanne7000@gmail.com and I will be happy to forward it all to you.

I was contacted by all three local television networks, interviewed with two of them, and the Lewiston Tribune. Kerri Sandaine wrote a wonderful article in Monday's (2/1/10) paper on this issue. I gave both news people disks with video and pictures from before the first letter and after - this includes Ben's participation in the delayed dance routine - a routine he was given a week to learn. Fortunately he and I had discussed practicing the routine at home as best he could in case anyone changed their minds about his participation. I had no expectations, but did have hope.

5. After the school received my first letter, they had a flurry of meetings and began making changes which allowed Ben full participation with his squad, including getting him pom poms. His uniform finally showed up; and, while not the male counterpart to the girls' uniforms, it is a uniform. It is the boys tear-away warm ups like the boys basketball members wear with a basketball shirt that has the school logo on it. They should be able to recycle this for a basketball player next season. At this point in time, Ben is happy that he is able to fully participate in all cheer activities.

6. Finally, some items for clarification.

a. I do not have a lawyer, although I have spoken to a few to get advice on how to handle this situation.

b. I am a Veteran of the US Armed Forces with a service connected injury/disability. I receive full compensation from the Veterans Administration. I am not interested in money, nor do I have any plans to sue the school or the district.

c. I have asked the school to choose letters of reprimand for the staff involved, a splitting up of the Superintendent/Principal position, and a Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Seminar for everyone from the School Board down to the students at the school.

d. I do not believe there was a conspiracy to discriminate against my son. But, it did happen and certain discriminatory actions are still happening. This screams out the need for education regarding these issues. I also believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion - for, against, or neutral on this or any other issue. However, a public school that receives federal funds must comply with Title IX which forbids discrimination. Not to mention that little thing called the 14th Amendment of our Constitution.

Finally, until this issue is resolved, I will continue to push for these actions to be taken. I have requested Congressional assistance and have spoken with the ACLU. I am meeting this afternoon with the Third Party Investigator the school has chosen. That this gentleman is one of two Risk Management Investigators for the company (Canfield and Associates) that administers the school's insurance policy and not what I would truly consider an unrelated, unbiased third party is not relevant. But it is ironic. An attorney I did speak with yesterday says he knows this man, and knows he his fair. I intend to be open minded and see what his investigation has to say.

Should anyone want to contact me, please feel free to do so. You may find my number through information, I am listed. Email is also good - especially if you are interested in the correspondence with and from the school. szanne7000@gmail.com

I appreciate the interest in this matter; and while I find some of the comments difficult, I also understand that everyone has not been privy to the entire story; too bad the school cannot comment - I, too, would like to know what they are thinking.

Sincerely,
Suzanne Grundy
Garfield, WA

Dear readers..
Fact, this person is not mentally challenged. However that got into this scrap is beyond me. He seems to be emotionally challenged, that's for sure, and this isn't something that Congress or any other law making body in the US can legislate.
Taking out those two components and you get a kid who appears to be completely out of adolescence, crying alligator tears on a national grandstand for not getting his wishes in a handbasket.
Tryouts of any kind are going to show the weakest and the strongest. That's human nature. Watch Animal Kingdom for crying out loud. He is neither the weakest or the strongest, but he isn't up to par for their cheerleading competition. This is a completely a moot point debating his apparent situation. Please go on to the next important issue, like poverty in the USA.

And I want to have sex with Angelina Jolie, which makes about as much sense (for her, anyhow) as this kid being a cheerleader. You don't see me suing people to make it happen. If it works out for this Grundy kid, though, I've got a few phone calls to make.

Can I claim discrimination because I didn't make the cheerleading team in high school?

A good parent doesn't tell their kid to find some way around the rules by crying and claiming their 15 of fame. And I went to a high school that had male cheerleaders, no one had a problem with it. That guy just looks like he sucks. What about competitions that would allow those girls scholarship chances? Ruined with a guy like that on the team who, frankly, sucks.

This child is a victim of bad parenting. How could his mother let this get so out of hand? Shame on you Ms. Grundy for allowing your child to be put in a position where he can be harassed like this. You should move to San Fransisco where bad parenting, mixed morals, and freaks are the accepted norm. Hang your head in shame Ms. Grundy, you have created a hell for your child.

I'm glad that after nearly 30 years of pointing out the folly of liberal wackoism, a new generation has picked up the torch and are marching forward to eradicate liberal stupidity everywhere.

It's not about the money....she sez

So just because he had a crap hand dealt to him in life everyone else should cater to his wants?
I don't think so!

I feel sorry for the kid, but if the person can't do the job then you don't give them the job!!
If he wanted to be president of the USA should congress vote him in just because it's what he wants??
No.

I'm all for equality and fair treatment but if he wanted to be the quarterback of the football team but was a quadraplegic would they have to accommodate him?

What I don't understand is how he decided that he was gay. How does he use sound reasoning to figure that one out? If he is mentally challenged then he cannot have sound reasoning skills based upon a normal person's cognitive skill level.

I was in a fox hole in Nam with a gay guy.
I am an atheist.
I am here to tell you that, when the chips are down, a gay guy can be just as much as a kickass grunt as any of you jokers who post here with your petty hate.
And, I AM living proof that there ARE atheists in foxholes.
I was an HM3 who made it to HM2 and back to HM3.
So, you hate everyone else punks can bring it.

I will say only one thing about him and the girls.
The girls do have nicer legs.
Of course, in that part of the state, they probably don't shave them or their pits.

Wow, some of these comments are pretty vile. Steveo, I don't think people with Asperger's are in fact incapable of feeling love or lust. Presumably they figure out their sexuality much as anyone else does.

If the school didn't think this guy was suitable for cheerleading, the honest way to go about handling that would've been to hold tryouts and then rejecting him. Apparently they did not, but accepted him onto the team, so it's not unreasonable to expect that he should be treated as any other cheerleader.

The kid has found something he cares about and is trying hard.
That's a hell of a lot more than other high school students are willing to bring to the table. He needs to be encouraged, not shit on by everyone around him.
Yes, it is going to take some extra effort from his coaches and the other members of the team, but when he and they succeed, it will be a hell of a lot more rewarding for them all than your typical cheerleading squad.

Eveyone's so quick to look at the smallest change to the norm as some offensive problem, when refreaming it as a valuable opportunity to make a positive contribution to a person's life and a chance to learn about proactivity is actually useful to people's lives.

This is cheerleading we're talking about, let's not act like it's something serious. Any chance to teach cheerleaders the value of being nice needs to be utilized.

There's nothing wrong with this kid...except that he's gay...and biracial...and kind of stupid (but NOT mentally-challenged).

I want some special treatment for the pain and suffering I faced having to look at that freak kid and his ugly-@ss mother,

This is what happens when you remove the "clip behind the ear" from your repertoire the first time some dumbass comes up with something fucked up.

Mom, I asked you to stop telling people I'm mentally challenged! I don't have Asperger's, I have acne and I'm slightly overweight. And don't pretend you're the good guy here. I didn't really care at all about the cheerleading. You kept pushing me to do it, then got upset when I asked the coach if I could be the mascot. Then you come on here and post some essay on my life and how tough it is, just so you can get your full 15 minutes of fame, but you don't think about how great it's going to be for me now that I'm a gay, 'mentally challenged' bi-racial overweight pimpled male cheerleader in the NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT.

Thanks, mom. Way to live your failed dreams through me.

Ben Grundy
Not a Tool
Garfield, WA

1) what is the point of male cheerleaders anyway?!--worse than regular cheerleaders (pretty women are on the internet, don't need them to dance at sports events) . . . if a guy isn't hoisting, throwing, or catching, then they need to go sit down

2) this article only conveys that this kid isn't very good at the moves, and not because of his disability, so they are probably doing the right thing and the kid and his family can't handle it

3) life is hard . . . stuff like this just perpetuates his feelings of being a victim . . . if you look for discrimination everywhere, you will find it everytime . . . grow up, life is hard, and this kid is now being taught a mentality that will make it harder

nothing, worth a damn, to see here

A lot of the previous posters seem to lack any reading comprehension skills.

There were no tryouts! People volunteered to be on the cheerleading squad. He was accepted onto the team and now things have changed.

Also, Asperger's Syndrome doesn't really qualify as "mentally challenged". This article is pretty half-assed.

Far be it from me to make a judgement about someone I have never met. (And shame on all who have passed judgement without knowing anyone involved.)

From an unbiased point of view I think that the student should have been allowed to try out just like everyone else. If he wasn't good at it, then cut him just like everyone else. If he is good at it, allow him the same benefits as everyone else on the team, including pom-poms if he wants them.

My gut tells me that the school kept him on the team because they were afraid of a lawsuit from the beginning about discrimination. Establishments sometimes can't win for losing in situations like this. Either way, they are in the wrong. For one, letting him be a cheerleader when they didn't think he was qualified is cruel. Especially when they then take away everything that in essence made him a cheerleader.

I grew up in a small boondock town in North Georgia. We had male cheerleaders who had uniforms, pom-poms and such. What's the big deal?

HAHAHAHAHAHA this freakin ATTENTION WHORE just signed up to FARK in order to post her crap! either she is the saddest woman alive or someone is the slickest troll ever!

This is a joke. This guy wouldn't make the team even if he wasn't a "bi-racial gay." Get over yourself, you didn't make the squad bro.

Everyone is up in arms over this guy for nothing. Let him do what the girls do. The one thing I have always noticed about cheerleaders is the fact the uniforms seem to get smaller and smaller every year and the AD don't have any problems with the girls dressing in next to nothing for every event. Some of these girls in the small towns use cheering as the stepping stone to a better career, one that involves a stripper pole. No one seems to have a problem with that.

The first group targeted in the Holocaust were disabled people; Hitler was inspired by the eugenics laws of the USA, the first nation with modern eugenics laws that forcibly sterilized people including disabled people, gay people, single women who got pregnant, and poor people. The USA did not get rid of its eugenics laws until the mid-1980's. It is appalling the comments about this young man. When you demean and devalue people you lend credibility to the atrocities of the world, past and present.

How sad. How hilariouly sad.

Way to ruin it for everyone else. Life is not all about you, and some things you can't or should not be allowed to do.

He needs to point out he just wants to be like George W. Bush (a cheer leader at Yale) then maybe small town America will except him.

comedy gold

'"

This looks like an awesome time to Celebrate Divershitty!!!!

"I have asked the school to choose letters of reprimand for the staff involved, a splitting up of the Superintendent/Principal position, and a Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Seminar for everyone from the School Board down to the students at the school."

Typical liberal totalitarian crap. If somebody disagrees with you, force them to go to Re-Education Camp.

This mom is just a money hungry scum bag, i'm going to go shave a male monkey put a wig on it and some lip stick then call it a bispecies homosexual transvestite eskimo with a learning disability and try to enter it into a beauty contest and when it's asked about it's views on gay marriage and it says its against it prez hilton and me can cry insensitivity to the ACLU and win millions because of the "trauma" i felt that my monkey had it's feelings hurt.

wow. what's so wrong with wanting to do it all? excuse me, but using the rolling stones as an example is WAY lame, seeing as how they are proving ANYONE can do ANYTHING, even if you're ugly, a drug addict, old or what have you. and ken, you just sound bitter. in fact, anyone who thinks that someone can't or shouldn't be included because they are different needs to go back to kindergarten to learn some golden rules. bitter bitter bitter. it's a shame you all have such horrible lives that you think nothing is possible any more.

Okay, well maybe we should tell that to Rain Man, because he practically bankrupted a casino, and he was a ri-tard.

They just made me stand there like a statue.
Yup, that's because you are a fugly grown up Alfalfa look alike that nobody wants to see shaking hips or waving pom poms around.
YOU ARE A MAN..CHEERLEADERS ARE WOMEN...usually pretty and thin, minus man boobs and Neanderthal features. But I am sure that Abe Foxman at the ADL will jump on your case as the number of hate crimes against Jews has slowed to..well...non existence..He will need a new target as he seems to be oblivious of the daily HATE CRIMES COMMITED BY THE IDF AGAINST INNOCENT PALESTINIAN MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN ON A DAILY BASIS IN GAZA...Guess its only a hate crime if its commited against Jews..not the other way around..fucking filthy Jews

First of all, the BOY'S rights end where it interferes with other people's rights. In this case, the rights of the other cheerleaders, the students, the school, and the audience. He's a sad, pathetic spectacle and his psycho mother is the root of this problem. Yes, we live a in a day of "tolerance" but this is just too much. It's embarrassing for the whole community to have this poor kid on display like some circus freak. Yes, he OBVIOUSLY stands out and not in the good way. He's not breaking new boundaries or raising the bar. The kid obviously has special needs and Child Services should have looked into this a LONG time ago. If he's mentally challenged, how does he know that he's gay? Who's telling him that he should be wearing the same uniform and swaying his hips like a girl? I'm sure it's that crazy mother of his and I'm not opposed to stoning that old bat and getting this kid some serious psychiatric help in a local facility. End of story...end of lawsuit.

"Also, if you go to collegiate level cheering, and in many high schools across the US, there are male cheerleaders. I do not understand why the school had such an issue."

Being the Garfield-Palouse high school cheerleader that I am, I cheer with Ben Grundy. The school doesn't have an issuse with him cheering. He didn't even have to try out, because he was the only guy and the school didn't want this exact thing to happen like it did. They did as any school would do to male cheerleaders. Any MALE cheerleader in the country, college or high schools DO NOT shake there hips or wiggle there ass in front of the crowd. There job is to support the FEMALE cheerleaders with stunting or tumbling and to yell loud and clap. Ben says its discrimination because he can't be a girl pretty much. Does that mean that the country is discriminating agiasnt ALL male cheerleaders? Him and his mom need to grow up, they are just making it hell for the school, student body, coaches and his fellow squad. I used to love cheerleading, i did it for the state for awhile to, but now i hate it! I used to look forward to games and practices but now i don't. That is because of Ben, and its not him personally i used to consider Ben as a friend, but now i can't stand to look at him because of all his lies. All he is doing is shinning a bad light on our school, and making his fellow teamates look racist or sexist. And thats not at all what its like.

"I will say only one thing about him and the girls.
The girls do have nicer legs.
Of course, in that part of the state, they probably don't shave them or their pits."

For your information bud, it has nothing to do with him being gay, and we do shave our pits and legs. Hes a terrible cheerleader, if the school wasn't so freaked out that they were going to be sued for not letting him on the team, they would have had try-outs and he wouldn't have made it. And for all of you saying its un-fair to him and he should be allowed on the team, i urge you all to come to a game and watch. He makes the audience un-comfortable, he makes us, the reast of the squad un-comfortable and yes, he is the worst cheerleader i've ever seen! (and i've seen some pretty bad ones!) He should give up his dreams of cheerleading because honestly there not coming true. Hes off in the dance routine, every cheer we do he ethier A. Does it wrong, or B. Is way off, just look at some of the pictures. Hes the only one not doing the correct move. I think half off you people commenting need to grow up or listen to the real story, not some bullshit story the news has, because even they didn't bother to investigate the subject they just took the bait from this boy and his mother.

“This is cheerleading we're talking about, let's not act like it's something serious. Any chance to teach cheerleaders the value of being nice needs to be utilized.”
“Everyone is up in arms over this guy for nothing. Let him do what the girls do. The one thing I have always noticed about cheerleaders is the fact the uniforms seem to get smaller and smaller every year and the AD don't have any problems with the girls dressing in next to nothing for every event. Some of these girls in the small towns use cheering as the stepping stone to a better career, one that involves a stripper pole. No one seems to have a problem with that.”
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For you information, for some kids cheerleading is serious. Not to mention you giving all of them a label. You don’t know every cheerleader in the world. So quite saying we’re all cruel. That’s stereotyping! And for your information I know every cheerleader at Garfield-Palouse high school and one happen to be my girlfriend. She’s the nicest person I’ve ever met. They were all nice to Ben, before he started all this drama.
You are discriminating against cheerleaders too. You don’t personally know them so who are you to say that they will grow up and be strippers? Also our cheerleaders do not wear the skimpy uniforms that other cheerleaders may wear, and a lot of other groups as well do not. Girls in small towns do not use cheerleading as a way to further their career. My mother was a cheerleader in a small town and now she’s a respectable doctor. You just need to grow the fuck up and quite judging people, you obviously don’t know them.

What if this guy wanted to be point guard on the basketball team, goalie on the soccer team, and shortstop on the baseball team? After all, if he "wants it,"
shouldn't the other participants and their fans make the needed adjustments so that this individual's wants will be satisfied?

I have nothing against gays. That being said, I doubt I'd get pumped for my team with a man swishing his hips and stuff at me. Cheerleaders use their sex appeal as their primary motivator. I know it's shallow but it's reality and truth.

The school is in the wrong here though. He may not be right for the job but that is for the cheerleading squad to decided, not the school. If he can do the moves and is a team player, he deserves his spot on the team without discrimination.

Still, I hope he quits the team. Team players think of the team first and themselves second, no matter how much it hurts.

I am the mascot at my university, should I be offended that the gay, bi-racial, mentally retarded, male cheerleader refused to be mascot because the position was beneath him?

The answer, although comical, is 'No'. Why? Because I am not a whiny little libral b!tch that calls foul on any little thing that doesn't go my way or that someone says that I don't agree with.

It's called life:
1) It's not supposed to be easy.
2) It's not supposed to be fair.
3) You don't always get what you want.
4) You can't always do what you want.

We've spent thousands and thousands of years evolving and struggling to survive. Now, when we should be relishing in our complete and utter dominance over all other known species in the universe, we have gotten to the point where we are just smart enough to realize that if we b!tch and moan hard enough then we may just get what we want - not because we are smart, not because we are strong, not because we did it the right way, but because there are enough other lazy a$$ people who want to be carried by the strong.

The strong survive and the weak die. That's how nature intended it, quit messing with the process.

You got dealt a crappy hand with being mentally retarded - although, for all we know it may have been your parents fault and not simply random chance - we can't deny that. As for being homosexual, it's hard to say whether that is by choice or yet by some other genetic endowment. Same goes for being bi-racial, it wasn't your fault - it was your parents doing. Same with being a male cheerleader, while there may not be anything intrinsically wrong about it, you have to be aware of what goes along with choosing that role (i.e., possible discrimination or ostracism or what have you). Despite all this, the fact of the matter is you have two choices:

1) You can fold.
or
2) You can play the hand you're dealt.

Instead of calling foul and whining about every little thing in life, people need to become more resilient and persistent in their efforts. Man up and deal with it. Life is about choices, and choices come with consequences. When you choose to be a male cheerleader, or a circus clown, or a colonoscopy technician, you have to be aware of the consequences of your action and weigh them against what you gain. Like being a male cheerleader? That's great, so do it. But don't ****ing whine if someone chooses to make fun of you because you're a male cheerleader or doesn't allow you to be one because you can't do it the way they want - it was your own choice to pursue that dream and those are the consequences of your actions that you weighed against your choice. Don't whine when you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Before anyone goes and flames me by saying 'oh boohoo, you're wrong, he's mentally retarded he didn't make that choice' or 'his school isn't letting him be what he wants because he's gay and bi-racial and mentally retarded, so he can't just do what he wants even if he wants to accept the consequences of his actions' (okay, none of you are probably smart enough to make coherent statements such as these, but I will assume you did anyway) I will say this: Insofar as saying he doesn't have the opportunity (which, it seems like he does, but that's beyond the point), perhaps you are right. HOWEVER, this is not the issue. The issue is that people are calling foul on this. Listen, I was not given the physical endowment to run a 2:03:59 marathon, it is physically impossible for my body. Should I be whining about it? No. That's the hand I was dealt and I am doing what I can (which includes running marathons, just not at a world record pace).

Each person has strengths and weaknesses, and some have more of one than others - this is the way life works.

Quit wasting time whining about the rules of life and, instead, focus on how you can win in light of these rules.

I am sickened by the path this country - and the rest of the world to a greater or lesser degree - is headed down. We've become soft, we've become weak, and we've become dependent on others. The most successful, happy, and self-actualized people in the world have not always been the smartest, the best looking, the strongest, the most ancestrally endowed, or those given the most opportunity.

Life gives you lemons, so what? Don't whine about not getting oranges; figure a way to achieve happiness and self-actualization with what you have available.

Instead of whining about what you can't do, why don't you show the world what you can do?

any school which parades pretty little girls around in skimpy outfits to excite people should be closed. it's called paedophilia. stop supporting it America.

This guy seems to like to identify himself by selected labels that benefit his own argument, for example, Gay, Mentally Challenged Biracial Male. How about adding the rest of the obvious labels, no talent, unattractive, bad haircut, out of shape, spiritless, dopey and generally unappealing as a cheerleader.
You can take the white trash retard out of the trailer park but, you can't take the white trash out of the retard.

WHAAA!! I want to be a High School Cheerleader too! But because I'm a 33 Year old DUDE I'm ineligible. It's Age Discrimination! It's not FAAAAIIIIRRR!!! WHHHAAAA!!!!!

You gotta be kidding!! I cannot believe so many people out there believe that everyone should be able to do whatever they want anytime. This half mental goon should have to try out for the team just like anyone else. Why the hell should get special privlages because he is male, retarded and has a mom who cannot get a white man? What next, everyone who tries out for the basketball team makes it???

The kid has severe emotional problems possibly as a result of autism (Aspergers). His mum obviously loves her son and wants the best for him, who can blame her. Her love however, appears to have misguided her to push for the ridiculous.

How race entered the equation shows the paucity of her argument but nonetheless, the child's obviously not suitable for this... forget his disabilities...

The fact hasn't changed (despite politcal thuggery) that homosexuality is a mental and emotional disorder. Doesn't mean we shun or hurt them, just recognise what it is and stop trying to normalise it. How approx 1% of the population can be considered normal is bizarre in itself.

Who would let a mentally challenged guy be a cheerleader? He'd topple the pyramid and distract the players. He should be in an institution like he belongs.

Don't you have to tryout for cheerleading? If he wanted to be on the college football team and didn't make it would he sue them too?

i don't understand how some people can't see that there is no interest in watching a mentally chalenged biracial gay student cheerlead. let live, do what you want, but if no one cares to watch, then you're just being overly dramatic and bringing attention to yourself that will simply make you look like total idiots.

seriously, there is more to life than cheerleading. how about trying to be a contributing member of society? go away, i don't care.

This is ridiculous.
He's not good. It's not fair to the team to put someone on out of pity or some ludicrous claim of discrimination. Cheer teams have tryouts, and if you suck, you don't make it. It doesn't matter if you're gay, mentally disabled, or biracial.

I hear this boy is gay. I want to ram his ass just to see if he'll stick.

And if I don't get my way with him I'll sue the god damned lot of you cnuts!

Does the vid mention whether he likes his hair pulled?

I like that sort of thing. And cheek slapping. Love that too.

I've got a baboon suit I'd like him to wear as well so long as he barks like a dog and squats in the corner every now an then.

It's written in the constitution that neither friend nor beast should ever come between a well endowed Rod and a Gay, Mentally Challenged Biracial Male Cheerleader.

I hope he loves bukaki. It's in his best interests.

How very sad for this child.

As a mother, we must inform our children of when their endeavors are productive and in their best interest. Espcially is the case in parenting a special child.

If I have a 102 lb. daughter, I don't encourage he rto get pummeled on the field by larger male classmates for whom the game was designed. Doing so, would be selfish in limiting the boys activities and reckless as protective parent.

This mother should be evaluated psychologically and investigated legally for her failure in parenting with even a smidgen of decency and commonsense.

It's redundant to say Black and Mentally Retarded.

Denying a nagro the right to shuck and jive beez aginst duh Constahtushun en sheeeeeeet.... Call Al... Call Jesse!

Most. Bigoted. Headline. Ever.

DS: I actually laughed out loud at your comment. I'm pretty sure the right-wingers have cornered the market on (self-hating) guilt.

I think the lowest common denominator is in full force here, as evidenced by comments by you and your racist, homophobic, sexist counterparts.

Give yourself a pat on the back for being open-minded and kind.

You guys just need to look at Gal Pal cheer leader's post, a girl who actually cheers with this narcissistic Dbag. Feb 5th at 12:53. Just scroll through the post times. Girl nails the issue on the head.

Everything else you all say, including the mothers 12 page essay, is moot.

correction on Gal Pal's post time. Feb 5th at 12:35

Correction on the Gal Pal cheerleaders posting time. It was Feb 5th at 12:35, not 12:53. She nails it on the head

The posts here make me never want to come to Washington State. Most of you have not taken the time to read this kid's mom's response, noting that she does *not* have plans to sue the school for monetary compensation, and that her son was *accepted* to the cheerleading squad in the first place. This is not a liberal political issue - it's a legal issue. The school receives government money, so they are bound by government laws. If they held tryouts and did not accept him - ok - but the point is, they did and then went back on their word because they became embarrassed. I will just repeat one of the few intelligent posts here, because it needs to be said again.

"The first group targeted in the Holocaust were disabled people; Hitler was inspired by the eugenics laws of the USA, the first nation with modern eugenics laws that forcibly sterilized people including disabled people, gay people, single women who got pregnant, and poor people. The USA did not get rid of its eugenics laws until the mid-1980's. It is appalling the comments about this young man. When you demean and devalue people you lend credibility to the atrocities of the world, past and present."

Okay...I understand the mom's desire for her child to find "a place" but you've gotta think rationally about this one.

It's not about inclusion, and access, and diversity, and (on and on with every term used in politically correct situations). It's about being an overweight male cheerleader. That limits your options.

Some people are better suited for the jobs they seek then others are. Imagine if the 90 lbs. blond cheerleader decided that she wanted to be the left tackle for the football team. She's not cut out for being the left tackle. She's cut out for being a cheerleader.

It's sad, and I feel for your kid. Being a teenager is tough enough as it is, and I'm sure this kid takes a heavy dose of abuse every time he leaves the house.

However; having said that, this kid should be focused on gaining skills that will put him in the class labeled "functional." Is he artistic? Can he sing, paint, act, write create? Focus on putting him situations that will encourage him to improve himself and maximize his potential, rather than attempting to wave the freak flag because you want to be included.

As dopey as being a cheerleader is to me, I respect the fact that the girls who want be cheerleaders have their reasons. And those reasons might not include having to be part of some grand social experiment.

I hope this kid finds an answer, but you can't impose that quest on others.

What kind of sickness have liberals caught that they compare this boy's plight to those in the Holocaust and eugenics? This child is not being taught to live a self-sufficient life, he is being convinced by his mother that he will be given everything and he doesn't have to work for it. Being killed in a gas chamber and being interned in a prison camp CANNOT be compared to a high school boy being denied the PRIVILEGE of being a cheerleader.

If this is the cause of the left-wing, you are alienating the centrists in this country who have dealt with being cut from a sports team or not getting an award and didn't sue.

Being a cheerleader is earned, not rewarded based on your disability.

What next, he will demand a medical license? Sue if he isn't rewarded the chance to operate without going through medical school, internship and surgical residency? What else will be given to him and not others in an effor to appease his whacky mother.

Any congressman stupid enough to become involved on behalf of this poor child and his obsessed mother will be voted out of office. With record deficits, unemployment, 2 wars, etc. any congressional representative who has enough time to babysit a mommy who is steering her son to a life of disappointment will have to explain WHY HE HAS SO MUCH TIME ON HIS HANDS!!

I hope this young man finds something he does and does well. I have hope that he will get in a good group home and meet people like himself and learn a trade. He will be able to afford dance classes and to meet someone to spend the rest of his life with, and there is someone out there for him.

His mom needs to back off and let him spread his wings and not fight his battles. She should worry about his grades in school and his plans for the future. I hope he has a guardian out there who will remove him from the toxic environment of "victim" his mom has created for him.

My child didn't make the soccer team, and I didn't sue. I am a adult and know that my child must earn his position on a sports team, and isn't going to be given everything in life.

I hope this town looks at the money being wasted defending this woman's psychosis. There are many kids in need in every town, and every penny spend dealing with self-aborbed helicopter parents is money not put towards the academics to prepare these children for a future.

Good Luck to Benjamin. Until he breaks those apron strings, he will not reach his full potential.

Wow! Some of the comments I've read here are spectacularly bigoted (and ignorant, which is really the same thing):

"fucking filthy Jews" . . . Actually, I washed this morning, which is more than I can say for your mouth. And how do you make the leap from a boy who wants to be a cheerleader to the IDF and its actions toward the Palestinians (which I in large part deplore, by the way)? Your "logic" quite escapes me.

"a mom who cannot get a white man" . . . I really don't know what to make of this. Do you honestly believe that this boy is biracial because of some supposed shortcoming on the part of his mother? That's just too farfetched for words. You do realize that we're living in the twenty-first century, don't you?

"The girls do have nicer legs.
Of course, in that part of the state, they probably don't shave them or their pits." . . . so you are saying that it is unacceptable for us to go as Nature intended? Take a look at the history of women shaving. It's a very recent phenomenon.

"homosexuality is a mental and emotional disorder" . . . The good people at the American Psychological Association disagree with you, as do all people of open minds and hearts.

Certainly there should have been try-outs for the cheerleading squad, including for Benjamin. This is a question quite apart from whether or not people dropped out. Cheerleading is something that calls for agility and coordination; we do not all have those in equal measure. If there had been try-outs, we the readers have no way of knowing whether or not he would have made the cut. There seem to be differing opinions above. The video doesn't do much to clarify the matter, since we've been told that Benjamin isn't permitted to use/move his legs and hips, just his arms. In light of that, we aren't shown what he may be capable of. (The posts from his fellow cheerleaders may or may not reflect the reality. Short of a trip to Washington, who's to say?)

On a related point, while I admit that I am no legal expert, limiting the participation of male cheerleaders (i.e., curtailing their activities to whatever degree) appears on the face of it to be a violation of Title IX. As I see it, this goes beyond this particular situation to extend to all male cheerleaders.

Finally, Suzanne's post and the news report are contradicted by Benjamin's post (if it is indeed legit, and given the tone, it could well be). So whose battle is it really? There seems to be a lot of he said/she said up there. All you supposed experts might therefore do well to back off a bit.

And all the narrow-minded bigots can just slither back to their caves.

He'll get over it and perhaps go on to bigger and better things. Benjamin for President I say.

Seriously people, grow the fuck up. Stop complaining about bullshit and go do something important. That's EVERYONE including the douchebags posting shit, life isn't fair, and I don't give two shits if you're fucking 4 feet tall and green, if you suck at something, you suck at something. Now IF the mom is 100% right, and her son doesn't suck. Then let him be on the fucking team. But hold try-outs. If not, then get over it.

I swear, everyone just wants to cry discrimination when they don't get something, which is basically the same as this:

"Well but im different, so I should get the same thing as everyone else."

Well im fucking not "different" and I don't get shit but I don't complain. You suck it up and deal with it.

Its like with black people,

Yea I fucking said it

And whoever said labeling is bad, everyone does it. Including you. So if you say you don't, you're a liar. And if you do.

Well then you're special, just like everyone else.

Hard to take Zachary F's opinions seriously, when he claims to be in college but not only can't spell "liberal" correctly but also thinks humans have dominance over every species in the universe when we've never made it farther than our own moon.

Hard to take most of the conservatives here seriously when they ruin their own acceptable and perfectly debatable arguments by injecting racism, homophobia, antisemitism(!), prejudice against the disabled, and ad hominem attacks in every post.

Hard to take anyone seriously who insists on referring to the ACLU, the JDL (again, WTF?), and lawsuits, when neither the child nor his mother has involved any of that in their complaint. In other words, it's hard to take anyone seriously who doesn't have a basic grasp of reading comprehension.

The funny thing is, I was inclined to agree with the conservative side- that we can't always get what we want, and that the earlier we learn that, the better- but your disgusting use of the English language makes me want to not have anything to do with you.

The school screwed itself over by refusing to hold legitimate tryouts. Therefore, it's not a sport (not that cheerleading is a sport to begin with)- it's a club. And in public schools, clubs can't refuse the membership of any student.

all of this clown's problems are obviously congenital from his mother.
Surely the school is entitled to decide whether it wants a queer, loony freak as a symbol of the school?

Headline should be changed to "Quintessential Democrat voter seeks help from Barack to barrack!"

Hey Helen-Anne,

"homosexuality is a mental and emotional disorder" . . . The good people at the American Psychological Association disagree with you, as do all people of open minds and hearts."

Check out the history. The APA was bullied and bludgeoned by gay activists to change their position in the early 1970s. The change was political not scientific.

As far as open hearts and minds go, should we say that (eg) Downes Syndrome is normal (or any other disorder)? No and we don't hate Downes kids. Same for homosexuals. It IS NOT NORMAL and should not be presented as such.

Another narcissistically entitled liberal invoking the typical litany of victim labels to get what they want.

What's wrong with this publicity hound of a mother? Have the sense to redirect your son into something that won't provoke public mockery and just let it go.

Listen we all wanta be allot of things. I want to be 5'8" it ain't gona happen.
The mother should be charged with child abuse. She is insane. If the boy is really mentally challenged he doesn't have the capacity to know what he wants or decide at this level where he should be.
Because everyone is discriminated about something everyday. I discriminate against deserts, I will not eat flan. Should flan sue me? Maybe next week if these stupid idiot law suits continue.

this kid and his mother belongs in a zoo.the football team needs to stomp the sh!t out of this freak

What an embarassment to society in general.

When I was in school, we voted for our cheer leaders. I wonder what the studet body in general has to say about this.

Scroll up and see the post from Gal-Pal at Friday, Feb. 5 2010 @ 12:35PM

There you have it.

If this kid is made up of a bunch of minorities, at what point can you legitimately call him a "majority"?

I am ashamed to share a country with you haters. This boy has the right to do this. This is the land of the FREE, the home of the BRAVE (which he and his mother certainly are!)
It is not the land of the bigoted and the land of the close-minded.
I fully support Benjamin Grundy's efforts. It might not be what YOU would choose for yourself or your child, but damn it he has the right.
His mother is the epitome of what mothers should be, and you all probably would have hearts if you had mothers who would be as willing to fight for your rights.

Fuck faggots and faggot apolgoists.

I would to see up his sexy ass skirt...

Nam Vet, when you were in this foxhole with a gay guy in Vietnam, did he put on a frock, lip-sync to Abba songs and touch you in your special place?
"Ooooh, gooks in the wire! Don't they look faaabulous in black pyjamas? Get some, get some"

dude is going to burn in hell for being gay. he already is paying for his sins from his last birth, he is a retard.

become straight and in the next life u can come back as a cheerleader.

I'm all for giving people equal rights, but this kid does not seem at all mentally challenged given the way he conducts himself in the interview. Looks like mom is trying to supplement her income to buy more tank tops.

Nam Vet: no wonder you freaks lost Vietnam.

Helen-Anne Mertsching: I love your INTOLERANCE and NAME CALLING about dissenting opinions.

Laura Michaels: Of course! The team was FREE to not choose that uncoordinated mutant, and was BRAVE enough to do it without fearing the endless whining of faggots and mentally sick people.

Oh, but here's a Wikipedia link to further illustrate my point. LMAO.

Has Western Civilization lost its mind? Or it was made to lost its mind by some "higher power" in the media, finances, intellectual circles and politics?

"So excuse her when she says she wants to take her poor son's plight to Congress. "

NO, I won't, it's stupidity like this that has made our legal system a laughing stock.

" She's just acting the way any Mama Bear would when her cub was born with a "torment me" sign stuck to his back."

As a professional with over a decade of experience in dealing with the retarded (it's the correct clinical term cry to someone else about it) I can say with 100% certainty that your claim in that sentence is a lie.

MOST mothers aren't raging imbeciles like this one.

The trifecta. Gay, retarded, and biracial. There'll be no stopping this guy. He could be the next president.

this kids obviously a retard in every sense of the word and should taken out back and shot in the head, but can we cut the stupid conservative liberal bullshit. its tedious, gayer than this fag and completely irrelevant. conservative, liberal or alien, its pretty obvious this kids a top notch mistake

wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i can't get my way so i'm going to cry and whine about it until you make a national incident out of it.

thanks for all you people who support the progressive politically correct agenda. because everybody needs to have their ass kissed.

great job Chris Daniels says:

Wow, what an enlightened bunch of comments. Congratulations for living up to the racist, redneck stereotype people have of you guys. Seriously guys, grow up.

you did a fine job yourself chris for displaying your prejudiced, bigoted, stereotyping, blanketed opinion that singles out individuals for attributes you don't approve of.

hypocrite chris.

This is the most moronic thing ever. Nobody has the right not to be offended, not even a gay retard. People will say and do things that you find offensive, get over it, it is not the right of anyone to feel good. Pick up some hobbys and bang a girl Ben, don't devote your time to such faggotry.

Keep it up guys......Putting up with this kind of S#*T is another good reason that Boeing is in the process of relocating to the sunny Southeast.......Like the one-liner near the end of Jackie Brown says "what happened to you man? you used to be beautiful"

So I guess statistics have finally caught up with the gene pool. Not only is he bi-gendered, he's slow, looks more like a guy but is gay! Guess it's time for the bimbo-headed cheerleaders to actually be nice to the odd-man-out for once. I remember most cheerleaders in my high school at least being a bunch of damn air headed idiots that loved to screw the football and hockey stars. Some good character traits might actually be pushed on these cheerleaders to have this guy work with them. Sometimes blessings come to us in ways we don't expect. :)

i don't care if he's retarded, it's safe to use that word now since a democrat used it(oops but i'm a conservative and we all know that the same rules don't apply), i don't care he's gay, i don't care about his race. all i care about is that he learns that sometimes you don't always get what you want, and standing around crying about it and pulling out the race, retard, or gay card isn't an excuse. maybe all cabinets in the nation should be made for people like me who ar3 5'6", it's the only way to be faaaaaaair.

every democrat in every household and business needs to have their own property rebuilt to accommodate my special need that i fear i can't reach the top cabinet in another persons house who has a political opinion 180 degrees opposite against me. it's a medical term called liberalistis, if you don't do it i will call you racist and straightaphobic and prejudiced against short conservative people.

see how stoooopid it sounds when it's turned against you.

that how stooopid this retard sounds with his pathetic excuse for a maternal figure that squeezed him out of her defective womb and politically correct progressive liberal socialists supporting him and turning this into a political issue instead of a retard who has to learn you can't always get what you want.

God bless all of you for defending the sacred institution of cheerleading.

Wow I didn't realize Washington State is just as bad if not worse as the deep south in bigotry and racism. So much for the Northern arrogance. In fact there is probably less bigotry out there than in the so called tolerant North. Looks like the state is teeming with Neo Nazi anti semitic skinhead types. Pathetic.

This guy obviously has no talent. He is sluggish and has no spirit. It is only because of the PC issues that they are afraid to tell him to get his butt out of there and go do something constructive like hang out at a gay bar.

gay marriage is against everything in the bible, therefor you fucking faggots should not be able to get married or EVER have kids because what kind of impression does that have if they adopt a kid, when he watchs his two daddys kiss each other like some fucking queers. dumb fuckin faggots

Hey antifaggotqueerkiller: They are better much than you and your inbred sister r@ping ilk. Turds like you are the reason why abortion should remain legal.

Hey antifaggotqueerkiller: They are better much than you and your inbred sister r@ping ilk. Turds like you are the reason why abortion should remain legal.

Mrs. Grundy- It sounds like your son is ruining it for everyone else. Maybe you should consider kick-line instead?

see what happens when the Circus comes to town and they forget to load up all the Midway Carnis from the freak show...

Pissed myself after reading the title of this, LOL!

The school is exposing itself to a huge liability. A signal symptom of Asperger's is lack of motor skills. Given the prevalence of injuries among cheerleaders, allowing a student to participate in such an activity when there is a clear risk of injury combined with a previous medical diagnosis of poor motor coordination is a lawsuit waiting to be filed.

Suzanne,

If a male teacher recruited the cheer squad and then wanted to wear a girl's uniform and cheer, should he be allowed to do it?

What your son wants to do is absurd, it makes a joke of the cheer squad. There are male cheerleaders, sure, but generally they don't wear the girl's outfits.

Two suggestions:

- Get someone with sewing skills to make a male version of the uniform for your son. Let him participate without acting like one of the girls.

- Go with the humor in the situation and come up with routines that exploit the humor in a male wearing a girl's cheer outfit.

These comments may just be the cesspool of collective human though.

This school system will be SO glad if they are ever able to graduate 'him' out of the system. Why can't he join the chess club, the dungeon's and dragon's club, or just masturbate in the basement. From the mother's response, it sounds to me like he has made such a laughingstock out of the cheer squad that girl's don't even try out for it anymore. What a travesty. Way to ruin the cheer squad retard.

None of this would have happened if Mom had kept her legs shut when she was 'dating' a retarded Black guy.

The point here is that he has absolutely no skills as a cheerleader. They should have tryouts and hire on the 6 with the most talent. He is not one of those six (obviously) so he doesn't make it, along with the other girls who are not qualified. Simple as that. Film the tryouts for proof.

This article could have been taken straight out of The Onion.

Why is this guy not working front and center in the Obama administration. He's got it all!

The guy is a genetic waste dump.

He should sue his parents for non-discrimination.

This is the direct result of the "everyone gets a trophy" generation. This happened at my daughters school. Two mentally retarded girls tried out for cheer and were not selected. The school offered to let the girls be on the JV squad. The retarded parents made the school let the girls on Varsity team and they have no capacity to dance. One girl even has a service dog. Unreal. The parents of the normal girls wanted to know how their daughters were not selected, and these two goof balls ended up on varsity. The lesson is if you dont make the team, claim to be special.

Political Correctness gone wild!

This sounds like somthing straight out of The Onion. But sadly it is not. He shouldn't be a cheerleader to begin with and that we are even talking about this whatsoever is a stain on the Republic and a vicious blow to common sense. Has everyone gone completely mad? What a bunch of idiots. If I were the school administrator I'd tell him to sit his butt down and bring on the lawsuit if you wish but you aren't waving around pom poms. Case closed.

Does this school not have frickin' tryouts? I mean really...

=>lol says:

Helen-Anne Mertsching: I love your INTOLERANCE and NAME CALLING about dissenting opinions.

You must think you're pretty smart and funny. I find it hard to envision someone's spewing of racist, homophobic, sexist drivel as a dissenting opinion. What is it, really, but the braying of one's ignorance to the rest of the world? You may well want to call my approach political correctness, but how would you regard it if you found yourself on the other side of the fence? Take a good, long look at yourself in the mirror. Put some shoe polish on your face, if something so crude and absurd is what it takes, and then ask yourself if your worth has been somehow lowered Put on a dress and walk around town for a day. See what it feels like to be treated as a second-class citizen for having a different skin color or being anything other than a white male. Maybe, just maybe, a bit of kindness toward your fellow humans, not to mention the rest of the species on this beautiful planet, would do you some good.

A friend once said of me, years ago, that I don't suffer fools gladly. That hasn't changed one iota since then. The sole thing about which I'm intolerant is intolerance. I defy you to argue that.

And I strongly suspect that I read more books in a month than you've read in your entire sorry life. If I'm wrong, it's at least clear that nothing you've read has opened your sorry mind.

As for name-calling, don't be silly. I can recognize Neanderthal, if not reptilian, views when I see them.

You are all missing the point. The point is the newscaster. He is HAWT.

This is so degenerate. America is a fucking joke!0

Maybe the school has a problem with it because acts like a retard when he cheers.

If these comments are indicative of the average Washingtonian, I NEVER want to visit. If I read posts saying that they kid threw off the routines (which he did, watch the video), it'd be no big deal. But attacking a child because he's AUTISTIC and Black? Man, that's a new low; it truly is.

And for the kid and his mom: grow up. I was a cheerleader in HS and I would have been heated if a kid got on the squad without trying out. Again, I watched the video and the routines were lackluster at best but Ben was just painful to watch. Cheerleading is the most dangerous sport in the country and if he can't get basic steps down, I don't know what mother would allow her son (or even daughter) to endanger their life just to make a sociopolitical point. It's not worth it. Out of curiosity: what are Ben's grades like for you to be so focused on cheering? Trust me, I thought cheer was the biggest deal until I got to college and realized I'd wasted a good chunk of time on something that didn't really matter outside of high school. Encourage him to find joy in other things, otherwise you're setting this kid up for a world of (further) disappointment.

The main reason we're falling behind in education is because there are FEW standards anymore.

Meanwhile, kids outside the United States, going to schools with dirt floors, sharing desks and having no electricity, make our spoiled brats look like they are: spoiled, fat, dumb and ugly brats.

But, it's not too late to reverse the dumbing of our children and parents.

How?

Stamp out Political Correctness.

It has to go because it is causing the down fall of America.

Right Now!

Reminds me of when guys tried to get jobs being 'Hooters Girls'. Stupid...let him be a male cheerleader and do what other male cheerleaders do and leave the skirt out of the deal.

that cheerleader is queer bait

I alao agree with Chris, the comments nasty from many of the others only shows their ignorance.

He might be Obama's secret love-child. He shares at least two of the requisite traits (biracial and mentally challenged).

Alright, 1st-most high schools don't have male cheerleaders, colleges do (and they don't dance the same as the girls they do just wave their arms, go to a college football/basketball game). 2nd-how mentally-ill is this guy, does he actually have a real disability or just ADD. 3rd- the only argument for discrimination is that it is because he's a guy, so bi-racial, gay, and mentally-ill didn't play a part in the decision that male cheerleaders don't do the dances and crap. Lastly, it seems this "mentally-ill," "gay", "bi-racial" cheerleader's real problem isn't with the school but with his own gender. He and his mother should seek serious therapy to help them figure out what they really want and stop blaming others for their problems.

Words cannot express how insanely ignorant most of these comments are on here. Everyone has given their two cents without even knowing the facts. They've applied their ridiculously pathetic conservative political views on it, they've judged the mother like they've known her their whole life. It's pathetic. You.are.all.pathetic. Reading the news online and THEN reading the comments is like watching America fail right in front of me. You have no critical thinking skills, little reading comprehension, and sadly, your vote counts the same for mine.

You don't even have the luxury to claim being inbred as to explain your stupidity- your lack of knowledge about Asperger's, your understanding of American values (social darwinism), your blaming for your sad helpless little lives on 'libruls,' because you've been too busy eating cheetohs and watching American Idol. And when you are really feeling the weight of your own stupidity, you watch Fox News to reaffirm that it is- of course- other people's fault that this country is in the hands of a handful of rich people that you voted for because they said they were Christian.
Again: You.are.pathetic.

People. who. write. sentences. like. this. are. fucking. retarded. liberal. pussy-wimps.

Case closed.

Only one period for you that time! Maybe then you can finish a sentence and get a gold star in your remedial english class? Knuckle-dragging fool.

Derek -
Move to Detroit. You will be able to celebrate divershitty that much better there. Why not??? What could possibly go wrong?

I see I moved the rock. And look what's crawling? It probably took a good 20 mins. for that shitty ass pun on diversity. Oh wait, you probably got it from AM radio. Keep shining bright, zombie.

Hey Celebrate,

Why you're on a roll of such cleverness, why don't you please talk to us about the diversity in Detroit, hmm? Please include public policy debate, history, the introduction of crack cocaine into urban Detroit, and the role of the auto industry, as they've all informed Detroit's makeup. I'll wait patiently. I'm sure you're brain is still recharging after your intelligent wordplay.

To all subhuman liberal scum, this is what you are creating, and I can see that some of you are proud of it.
This is your last fucking warning, get the fuck out of this country. Go to Europe, or wherever. But you are no longer welcome here and violence WILL be brought on you if you continue pushing this absolute insanity.
"WAAAHHH IT'S DISCRIMINATION THAT I'M A 30 YEAR OLD MAN BUT WANT TO FUCK 16 YEAR OLD GIRLS THIS IS AGEISM AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PEDOPHILES".
I cannot WAIT to lynch you piece of shit.
Proud violent racist misogynist homophobe.

Just because he's gay, mixed race and a retarded homosexual male doesn't mean he should be an EXTRA special privileged person who can become whatever the hell he wants.

This story is absolutely ridiculous, but not surprising now that we live under the Obamanation.

Oh, and before some 'enlightened' democrat calls me a redneck or some other liberal name call, I was born, raised and live in NYC.

OMG, just kick the retard off the team and deal with the consequences later. The other kids in the community should be able to enjoy their high school experience. Screw the fuktard.

>>Also, if you go to collegiate level cheering, and in many high schools across the US, there are male cheerleaders.
They are called fags, aren't mentally retarded, and not ugly enough to make a real person question God's existance.

thank the Lord he has both legs!!!

When he moved to Hollywood he had to go door to door to tell everyone he was a pederast.

Bitch should have had an abortion.

The mother is some piece of work...aside from fat and fugly, what kind of brainiac suggests to her rythmically (sp?) challenged child with Ass-Burgers to join cheer?

Face it: fat, sloppy and queer is no way to go through life, son.

Lose weight, get a haircut and find a fat white chick to mingle with. Your dad did!

Uh-mmm, question...is "Ass-Burgers" some kinda Frisco-lingo for something completely un-natural and disgusting?

Helen-Anne Mertsching vomited the following dreck:
...You may well want to call my approach political correctness, but how would you regard it if you found yourself on the other side of the fence? Take a good, long look at yourself in the mirror. Put some shoe polish on your face

You liberals are so hypocritical in your characterization of what it means to be down-trodden you don't even recognize your own racism...seriously, no-one (and I mean no-one) could be this out of touch and racially clueless and not be an Onion writer...why, I'll bet some of your best friends are black, huh?

A friend once said of me, years ago, that I don't suffer fools gladly. That hasn't changed one iota since then. The sole thing about which I'm intolerant is intolerance. I defy you to argue that.

It's you who have argued yourself into that rhetorical paper bag you moron. Get yourself out of it. Do you even begin to see how illogical, uneducated and unhinge it makes you sound?

If you didn't try to pat yourself on the back so hard for how open minded you are, you wouldn't have revealed yourself as the racist, liberal half-wit you are.

Good day to you.

A further comment to the Cave-Dewller:

You say liberal as if it's a bad thing. I say (and yes, I readily acknowledge that it isn't original) that a mind is a terrible thing to close. Live, learn, experience, grow. Or shut down and die from within. You have clearly made your choice, and you will wither slowly, most likely taking those nearest and dearest to you along for the ride (more's the pity). I made my choice, too, and I am thriving and joyous!

I can't believe anyone can't figure out why they don't want him. How about this: HE SUCKS!

There is a reason his mom calls him a tard - he's stupid! He doesn't catch on to the routines and he looks like shit when he tries to cheer.

You probably think he should get on any team he wants. But the fact is, you have to actually be good to make HS teams and he is not.

This student just posted about having an incestuous relationship with his mom and neighbors dog, as well as molesting a 3rd grader visiting the school during a game on http://4chan.org.

We enjoy having a male member on the squad. Infact it is a good thing for the community to have something foreign to them. It makes me angry as a member that i've never heard any word about this from him directly. It wasn't until the article came out that we even knew he was uncomfortable. I was insulted! A team should be honest. The school isn't discriminating, just enforcing an appropriate role for a male. I have never seen a male use poms or shake their hips. It's uncomfotable. Learn the real facts before you form your opinion.

Helen-Anne Mertsching gassed again...:

A further comment to the Cave-Dewller:

You say liberal as if it's a bad thing...blah, blah, blah...

...as is typical of your emotional, logic-free type, you don't address any of the points raised, thereby conceding them. You can't even quote the UNCF correctly...pathetic.

...check-mate and goodnight

'a mind is a terrible thing to close'

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

too funny

way to completely change the original intent of the phrase's author.

"a mind is a terrible thing to close" is just something Liberals say when they run out of intelligent things to say. Frequently, it's the first thing they say.

Grow up people!

"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone" (John 8:7).

He's mentally challenged. Well then who determined he was gay? Let me guess, his mentally challenged mother caught him showing it to another boy when he was six, and the agenda driven reinforcement began.

Just when you thought you heard everything. For heaven's sake; all the cheerleaders are girls!

This young person will no doubt be President of the United States one day. All he has to do is never take NO for an answer.

Jeez Louise, are these people for real?

The school is run by saints for even letting this hideous kid even hang out with the cheerleaders.

What kind of fantasy land is he from?!!?!!?!?!

I don't get it.
Women fought for equal rights to do a lot of things that was a men job/task.
I am a woman and I don't think it's fair not give the opportunity to the boy to try to be a cheerleader.
What will happen if suddenly men decide to tell that certain jobs or tasks or sports should be only for the men?
Here I see both sides wrong:
- the school because it's clear they didn't give equal opportunity to the boy to show that he can do the job
- the mother who was the right of expose that her son didn't had the same chance as any other girl to became a cheerleader BUT she should fight for that only. Now looks like she wants the school to put him as cheerleader regardless if we can do the job or not. Supposing that he is a girl, would he be selected by the school to be a cheerleader by his ability? who knows? Nobody showed me in this video what he is capable of.
If the mother wants to fight she should show how capable her son is and show what he can do as cheerleader. Why not have a video with him doing something to prove that he is capable?

Watching the video I agree he was hold, but why he can't show people what he can do. Please don't play poor me. You need to show everybody that you are you can do like any other girl cheerleader can do. If you can show that you can do the same thing as can do, so now I would agree that the school not only treated different to give you the opportunity to be a cheerleader but also ignored your abilities only because you are not a girl.
Trauma? Come on! Stand up and show what you are capable of. Would you rather tell the world "poor me, I'm discriminated" or have proud of yourself and make people admire you for what you are capable for not those things let you down.

uhmmmm....sure....ok....

And Chris Daniels and the other liberals are living up to their stereotypes as dense and idiotic and name calling babies. Yes America is racist the and everyone is racist. Nevermind we have a black president that AMERICA voted in we are all just racist. And if the school rejects someone and they happen to be biracial, well then they are racist too. Forget that white people try out all the time and don't make the team let's just omit that fact because it would disprove your accusation.

The fact that he's biracial has nothing to do with it. Tossing that in there is very, very low.

He seems like a good kid, but guess what? A lot of what you might call "perfectly normal" girls and boys can't cheerlead. Like him, many of us are not in good enough shape... or not coordinate enough... or what have you. He is not at all alone in not being "good enough" to make the squad. Most of us aren't.

He needs to get a female uniform, skimpy skirt, training bra, and dress just like every other member of the squad.
Also, why is he only biracial, retarded, and gay? Why not list his other faults? Ugly, half-blind, Terrible Hair, and smells bad.

I think everyone's opinion is irrelevant.

His parents want to get paid and he just wants to do what he wants to do. He doesn't see the big picture but his parents do...I am sure he was happy as hell to get the uniform and pom poms, but mommy...nah, money please.

I am a cheerleader with Ben at gar-Pal high school.
I am writing this in response to ALL media out there about this issue.
heres my side:
When Ben signed up to be a cheerleader no one tried to convince him to do otherwise.
gar-pal hadn't had a male cheerleader in a long time so it was exciting. As the season went on ben was not "reduced to" but served the male role of a cheerleader as best he could. (note: Male cheerleaders do not typically have pom poms or do the same moves as the females. like in ballroom dancing, the male and female participate equally but serve different roles.)
ben was never discriminated by the scholl nor his fellow cheerleaders.
If anone shoudl be repramanded for bad behavior it should be Ben's mother NOT the school. she is exploiting her son and teaching him to use his minority as a means of getting through life.
it is a shame that the school has to put up with this negative attention when they have done nothing but accept and encourage students to follow their dreams.

-Puerto Rican, Female, Viking Cheerleader.

alright, im 14, but for anyone who's calling this kid this a retard of a fag, or a disgrace, fo f*** yourselves. im sure hes got more heart to be a cheerleader than any one of those blonde bimbos on the squad. and there are male cheerleaders at college level cheerleading!! so maybe hes not the smartest, but if he wants to be a cheerleader, let him. look at it this way, if it was YOUR son wanting this, would you shoot down his attempts to do what he wants and fit in? and anyone blaming comments on liberals need to grow up because no one's blaming them for their words. this kid's got what it takes to make it, he's got heart, passion, and he clearly wont take no for an answer, if we were all had those qualities, maybe we'd be a better group of people.

Lexi - You're proof that the school system is failing. Just shut up and go back to texting your 'peeps.'

We like to joke about these things, but that only reinforces them.
This sort of nonsense must be denounced.
The woman should be charged with interfering with the operation of the school.
The kid must learn that he is not suited to every activity the school offers,
and that's got a name he won't like -- fairness.
By making himself a laughing stock, and insisting on special (not
equal) treatment,
he is part of the destruction of America, no laughing matter.
Yes, I have a sense of humor.
This is not the place for it.

Author Alan Korwin

Ben's mother stated, "However, a public school that receives federal funds must comply with Title IX which forbids discrimination."
Title IX absolutely does NOT protect or legally allow boys who wish to play what are considered to be "girl's" sports. This is due to size and strength and the history of discrimination against females. http://www.titleix.info

This kid's mother is an A-hole and so is he.

Zachary F.:
"The strong survive and the weak die. That's how nature intended it, quit messing with the process."

Better not get old then! You'll be treated as a useless person, sitting around in a couch in front of a TV and be a burden to the younger crowd. Kill your parents while you're at it (if they aren't dead yet).

Chip Donahue:
"He should be in an institution like he belongs."

Why should this mentally challenged guy (which doesn't seem retarded when you hear him speak) be put out of our eyesight? If a person with disability can handle everyday life, there's no need to pay higher taxes to have that person and others locked away.

Imagine you guys have an accident and end up with a burned face and brain damage. You would still like to enjoy life, but others will think you should be gassed. You fascist have no clue about life.

i think is b.s they should let him cheer in his Male uniform! thats how its supposed to be! and ya they are right it wont look right if they have a male cheerleader standing there just moving his arms! they need to let him do the same thing they Girl Cheerleaders do.! and that is my Opinion!
-TRULY-

Juana La Cubana!

wtf do they mean growing up gay? thats a load of bullshit gay is a sexual preference does this mean that he decided to enjoy some cock as a little kid? if he is mentally challenged maybe he shouldn't have a sexual preference at all. The only good thing i can say about all this is at least he won't be procreating.