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School Board Cancels Gay Actor’s Anti-Bullying Talk Over His ‘Lifestyle’
A Pennsylvania school board canceled an anti-bullying speech by the actor Maulik Pancholy, who is gay, after board members raised concerns about his “lifestyle,” prompting outrage from the surrounding community.
Quick Facts
- The Cumberland Valley School District school board voted unanimously to cancel Mr. Pancholy’s speaking event next month at Mountain View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, a community of about 9,000 people roughly 100 miles west of Philadelphia.
- Mr. Pancholy played the obsequious assistant to Alec Baldwin’s character on the TV show “30 Rock” and voiced Baljeet in the cartoon “Phineas and Ferb.”
- The cancellation prompted a petition to reinstate the event that stated that the decision was made “solely because he is openly gay.”
The Cumberland Valley School District school board recently voted unanimously to cancel actor Maulik Pancholy’s anti-bullying speech at Mountain View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The decision sparked outrage from the community after concerns about Pancholy’s “lifestyle” were raised by board members. The actor, who is gay, is known for his roles in “30 Rock” and “Phineas and Ferb,” and had planned to speak about his experience with bullying and his children’s book, “The Best At It,” featuring a gay Indian American boy named Rahul.
Board members expressed concerns about Pancholy’s activism and his children’s books, which address bullying faced by L.G.B.T.Q. characters. The cancellation led to a petition with over 1,000 signatures, claiming the decision was made “solely because he is openly gay.” The board’s decision has sparked controversy, with community members criticizing it as not representative of their values.
Amidst the controversy, the board members defended their decision by stating that they objected to Pancholy’s activism and saw it as a political agenda that could violate the district’s policy. However, supporters of Pancholy argue that his work focuses on social justice causes and empathy, not politics, and that the decision to cancel his speech was unjust.
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