High School Coach Under Investigation After Homophobic Tweets
A high school basketball coach has been placed under investigation following a former student’s complaint after making a homophobic statement on social media.
Charles Glotta has served as a basketball, tennis, and track coach in Fort Zumwalt’s school district but is now under investigation after making a statement on social media, stating that “Never should have allowed gay marriage to start with. Marriage is between man and woman, plain and simple.” His tweet came as a response to a tweet from actor Jeremy Leroux condemning the Republican Party for refusing to support gay marriage.
Glotta, who describes himself on social media as a “Christian, husband, father & business owner,” was quickly censured by students and parents alike. Forced to confront the issue, the district’s board of education set up a meeting with those expressing their outrage, which turned into a show of LGBT+ pride. Initially, the district sided with Glotta, explaining that, while his opinion was not necessarily shared by the board, he is allowed to state his beliefs, as ‘Tap Haps’ reports. The statement said in part, “The post was the personal opinion of the individual, who does not speak on behalf of any Fort Zumwalt school or on behalf of the Fort Zumwalt School District.”
Before setting his Twitter account to private, Glotta quickly apologised for the offence his comments made. “I made a post earlier that was apparently insensitive to many and hurtful. We all make mistakes and mine was public. I apologize to anyone that was offended. In reading responses I am deeply regretful of hurting anyone’s feelings,” Glotta tweeted.
But, in an effort to punish the coach for his wrong-speak, former student Caitlyn Bush created a petition calling on the district to fire Glotta. The petition gained over 2,000 online signatures.
Following the outcry, Superintendent Bernard DuBray announced that Glotta’s tweet “violated the school district’s ethics policy.” However, neither the superintendent, his assistant, nor the school’s human resources generalist responded to questions to show where the policy outlines that school employees are prohibited from posting their opinions on their own social media.
“His Twitter feed — it wasn’t privatized and so it was open for any of our students, parents, community to see,” DuBray said. “If he wants to have an opinion that’s fine but he needs to keep it to himself or privatize his Twitter.”
As a result, Glotta has been placed under investigation by the district to determine what the coach’s punishment should be.
In the petition, Bush also accused Glotta of sexually harassing and sexually assaulting numerous students. She also claims that an incident was reported but that the school only made him promise “he won’t do it ‘again.’”
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