Students at a high school in Indiana have raised more than $80,000 to put on a play featuring LGBTQ characters after it was banned by school administrators.
Earlier this year, the theater department in Carroll High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana had gotten all necessary approvals from the school board to put on “Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood,” a play which includes queer characters. But after rehearsals began, the school’s principal, Cleve Million, canceled the production when parents complained about the play’s content.
According to MetroWeekly, after news of the cancellation spread, a petition was started on Change.org that amassed over 5,000 signatures. But even after the petition was presented to the North Allen County School Board at a public meeting in February the play was still rejected.
Students were still determined to put on the play, so they contacted a local LGBTQ+ group, Fort Wayne Pride, and started to make plans to produce the play. Earlier this month, the students started a GoFundMe page to help finance the play and raised $80,000 in 11 days. The page included a video explainer that debriefed the school’s decision and the students’ mission.
In the video, the students share their hope that their efforts will inspire change on a larger scale. “We want to show other communities around the country how to stand up to various parent groups bullying schools into canceling plays and musicals with LGBTQ+ content.”
