Gay student says “Coach” Tim Walz protected him from homophobic bullies. Kamala Harris highlighted Walz’s past as a faculty advisor for his school’s gay-straight alliance.
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/08/gay-student-says-coach-tim-walz-protected-him-from-homophobic-bullies/
32 comments
>*At the rally, Harris noted that Walz worked for a decade as a social studies teacher and football coach at Mankato West High School. During his time there, he helped the “winless” football team win a state championship, Harris said, using football to teach his players life lessons. But “Tim wasn’t only a role model on the football field,’ Harris said.*
>“Around that same time, Coach Walz was approached by a student in his social studies class. The young man was one of the first openly gay students at the school and was hoping to start a Gay Straight Alliance at a time, at a time when acceptance was difficult to find for LGBTQ students,” Harris said. “Tim knew the message that it would send to have a football coach get involved. So he signed up to be the group’s faculty advisor, and as students have said, he made the school a safe place for everybody.”
>***Jacob Reitan, a gay student who was bullied at the high school during Walz’s time teaching there,*** [***said,***](https://www.tmz.com/2024/08/07/tim-walz-protected-former-student-homophobic-bullying/) ***“Both Tim and Gwen were incredibly supportive of their gay students. They modeled values of inclusivity and respect that helped not just me — I was bullied in high school — but it also, I think, helped the bully. It showed the bully a better path forward.”***
>***Reitan added, “I can think of no one better than Tim Walz to show that better path forward for America. We have had with President Trump, a bully president. It’s a one-act show with this president, all he knows how to do is the politics of the bully. Tim Walz will show us a better way forward. He’s been showing and modeling that better way forward for me all the way back to 1997.”***
That’s what a great leader looks like. We need more leaders like Walz in office. Less hate, more love. I am glad for Governor Walz, and I hope to call him VP in another few months. Thank you, governor Walz.
Kids are being bullied thanks to Republicans creating a climate of hate, leading to greater absenteeism rates. To see a kind leader step up and show love, that’s a profile in courage right there.
“Wo-oh, what I want to know is are you kind?”
He seems like a really wonderful human being and a fantastic choice for VP.
What a world we live in where i started wincing when i saw gay student and coach tim walz. Like i’ve been beaten for the last decade or so to assume the worst.
Strong men protect the weak. Weak men punch down. Tell me what Trump and JD do?
Walz has compassion, Vance lacks empathy. Both sides are the same /s
Can’t wait for MAGA to say this is weird and go mask off supporting bullies. Do it, losers.
Gym Jordan slumping in his chair right now hoping no one thinks of him.
>During his time there, he helped the “winless” football team win a state championship, Harris said, using football to teach his players life lessons.
He takes an absolutely awful football team and turns them into state champs, while also protecting and caring for the most vulnerable in the community? And doing it, I presume, with a big smile on his face?
Tim Walz is amazing. He seems to have the biggest heart I’ve seen in a politician, and he wears it on his sleeve. I am enjoying seeing him alongside Harris, and I’m really looking forward to a big win for them in November.
What a Chad!
The sad part is, I’ve never seen such hatred towards the LGBTQ community as of late. This election is really bringing out some of the most disgusting people compared to when Trump became President.
Stark difference in what compassionate people versus people who grew up to hate and discriminate. It’s mind boggling.
And many of the MAGA fans are religious. So much for following Jesus and spreading love 🙄
He sounds like a wonderful person. It’s all in his smile. He shows such a great quality as a leader. He would be a great VP for America.
Boy that one started off being a breath taker
Wayne, Daryl, and Squirrelly Dan would approve of Tim Walz.
Now he’s protecting the country from homophobic bullies. The weird thing is right out of a high school teacher’s handbook.
Walz is exactly the kind of person I want in government. Having someone supportive of the LGBTQ community in such a high level position would make me feel much more hopeful about the future.
Meanwhile Vance would be tying him to a tree. Clear choice, folks.
Could this guy be any more likeable?
Can’t wait to see the MAGATs make this a bad thing.
We want the coach not the couch!
Man, when I started this headline I was SO worried.
Pleasantly surprised.
Even voters who aren’t sure about gay and trans rights are unlikely to be “pro-bully”. Walz standing up to bullies is unlikely to turn anyone away.
Breaking News: Tim Walz accused of being a good guy.
This guy really sounds like the real Lisan Al Gaib. Just a guy who knows what’s right innately in a way that we haven’t really seen in America on the national stage in like…maybe decades?
You know, unexpectedly enough, Vance seems to have had compassion for gay and trans people in the past, too.
The difference is he sold out his decency for a chance at power. Walz has taken good care of his.
Stop stop I can only like this guy so much
I was there in ’99 at West High School. Jake was a grade or two ahead of me. Had his wife Gwen as a teacher.
Watched Jake’s MSNBC interview and he downplayed what this was like. Being out at that school, especially 1st, was such a huge and brave step at that time.
To say he faced bullying was an understatement. He faced violence and threats on a daily basis but also he faced a lot of people either turning a blind eye or not being brave enough to stand with him.
Mr. Walz, standing up as an ally– the first school employee ally, while being a football coach in a relatively conservative area was an amazingly brave thing. This wasn’t something that everyone forgot about after 2 days. It was a huge thing in the entire school for that whole year and beyond. There were a lot of strong feelings from students and adults. He took a lot of shit for it from some people in the community but never backed down. That’s the kind of dude he is, it’s not an act or for the cameras.
You know Trump and Vance would’ve joined in with the bullies. Just Trump’s recent comment about “the transgender” shows it
I know said student very well: he’s a straight shooter and has nothing but praise for Walz. I’ve been around the political block and while there are many politicians I like and admire (and MANY more I do not), Walz is the only one in a high office where he doesn’t need to calculate what he says before he says it, he just is that guy.
I wish this guy could adopt me.
Just what America needs, a Football Coach and head of a GSA Club.
That’s not sarcastic, I’m being serious a Football Coach who also ran a gay Straight Alliance Club in highschool as a teacher is every level of Awesome badass across the spectrum
I went to high school in the mid 2000s and was going through a crisis realizing I was a bi guy. I didn’t feel comfortable telling my parents yet, even though I knew they’d be accepting. It felt dirty. So I told the school’s psychologist (or whatever he was).
He recommended that I look in to shock therapy.
And my school wasn’t in a particularly conservative area. Suburban Minneapolis.
It says so much about Gov. Walz’s character that he cared for his students that much, in a time when quite frankly he was opening *himself* up to problems. But having had him as a governor for 5 and a half years and having met him, this came as absolutely no surprise.