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POSTED: 11:48 a.m. EDT, June 27, 2007
Story Highlights
•Shot of male student kissing his boyfriend was blacked out from the yearbook
•Student says he is holding out for a personal, public apology
•Superintendent previously called the picture "illicit" based on the couple's pose
•District is offering students an uncensored version of the yearbook
NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) -- The school district said Monday it regretted ordering a picture of a male student kissing his boyfriend blacked out from all copies of a high school yearbook and said it apologized to the student.
Andre Jackson, the student, said he was disappointed that the superintendent had not delivered the apology face-to-face and in public. Because of that, he said he didn't accept it as sincere.
"I would accept an apology -- a public apology," said Jackson, 18.
Jackson said he learned of the apology through the media.
The district issued a statement Monday saying it regretted the decision and that it would issue an unredacted version of the yearbook to any student of East Side High School who wants one.
"The decision was based, in part, on misinformation that Mr. Jackson was not one of our students and our review simply focused on the suggestive nature of the photograph," the district said.
"Superintendent Marion A. Bolden personally apologizes to Mr. Jackson and regrets any embarrassment and unwanted attention the matter has brought to him."
District spokeswoman Valerie Merritt said Bolden would meet with Jackson on Tuesday.
But Steven Goldstein, chairman of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said Jackson had not heard from the district by 10 p.m. Monday.
"They don't have a meeting set up, it's not true," Goldstein said. "The school district hasn't contacted him. Whether they reach out to him on Tuesday remains to be seen."
Jackson said his teachers, classmates and his parents all knew he was gay and that his sexual orientation was never a problem at school.
"I've never had to deal with this before," he said. "It's shocking. It's crazy."
Previously, Bolden had described the picture, which showed Jackson kissing boyfriend David Escobales, as "illicit."
"If it was either heterosexual or gay, it should have been blacked out. It's how they posed for the picture," Bolden told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Saturday's editions.
In the 41/2-by-5-inch photo, Jackson is seen turning his head back over his right shoulder and kissing Escobales, 19, of Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was blacked out after Russell Garris, the district's assistant superintendent who oversees the city's high schools, told Bolden he was concerned that the photo could upset parents.
The photo was among several that appeared on a special personal tribute page in the yearbook.
Jackson, who paid $150 for the page, noted that the yearbook is filled with pictures of heterosexual couples kissing.
Newark public schools have about 42,000 students, making it the largest district in New Jersey.
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