MN: Student Wins $25K Judgment For Anti-Gay Slurs By Teachers

A Minneapolis-area high school junior has been awarded a $25K settlement after two teacher harassed him and made him the brunt of classroom jokes about his perceived sexual orientation.

The boy's "fence swings both ways," teacher Diane Cleveland commented during a class in the 2007-2008 school year, according to an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. When the boy wrote a report on Ben Franklin, Cleveland allegedly said before the entire class that the boy had a "thing for older men." Another teacher, Walter Filson, said in front of other students that the boy "enjoys wearing women's clothes." When the boy decided to report on Abraham Lincoln, Filson allegedly said, "Since you like your men older ..." the Human Rights report said. The school district, which has denied it violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act, agreed last month to pay the boy's family $25,000.

The student has been transferred to a school 25 miles away in order to escape further tormenting.