Second Vanier student speaks out on sexual orientation policy

A former student of Vanier Catholic Secondary School in Whitehorse,  who is a lesbian, says she left the school in the late fall after obscenities were carved into the door of her school locker.

Sixteen-year-old Shara Layne said when she saw the word "faggot" carved on her locker door, she went directly to the principal, Ed Frison. But she said he wasn't concerned.

"(He) said ‘why is that a big deal?’ And I said, ‘because I'm a lesbian,’ and he said, ‘well, I can't really do anything about it.’"   Layne said the offensive word remained on her locker, even though her mother tried to get it removed.

"He told my mom that he couldn't remove it until they found the right shade of paint."

Layne said after several days a teacher at the school and his class covered the word with a poster of a heart, along with supportive messages.

But Layne said that after the locker incident, she began to feel anxiety and have panic attacks. She stopped going to Vanier a few weeks later, working instead from home.

She's been in counselling for the last few months, and now plans on moving to Porter Creek Secondary. She said while she loved going to Vanier, she won't ever go back.

Layne said she believes Vanier's policy on sexual orientation partly accounts for the hurtful action and she wishes that Vanier would adopt a more welcoming policy towards gay and lesbian students.