FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jason Landau Goodman
jgoodman@payouthcongress.org
PSEC Responds to Student Discrimination at Milton Hershey School
HARRISBURG, PA– The Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition (PSEC) is greatly disappointed by the Milton Hershey School’s decision to deny 14-year-old honors student Abraham Smith admission to the Central Pennsylvania private and coeducational school based on his HIV-positive status.
The Milton Hershey School issued a statement on their website that they “cannot accommodate the needs of students with chronic communicable diseases that pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others.” However, after 30 years of HIV/AIDS research, it is well known that HIV poses no threat to others in a school environment. It is against Pennsylvania and federal law to discriminate in a public accommodation on the basis of HIV status.
As Pennsylvania’s statewide LGBT youth organization, PSEC believes one of the greatest threats to Pennsylvania students are school administrators who would discriminate against people for what they are and not embrace who they are. PSEC supports the Smiths in asking the Milton Hershey School to own up to its discrimination and truly become the welcoming school it was established to be.
“No student should experience discrimination in their education on the basis of their HIV status”, said Jason Landau Goodman, the Executive Director of PSEC, “The Milton Hershey School is widely known as a wonderful educational institution – yet a school brings itself shame by discriminating against a promising student because of his HIV status.”
PSEC commends the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania for representing Abraham and his mother in this case. In the complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania last week, Abraham and his mother are seeking a reversal of the Milton Hershey School’s admission decision, a public apology for the discrimination and to recognize the emotional damage they have inflicted.
PSEC is a student-run coalition representing thousands of youth throughout Pennsylvania working to improve the lives of LGBT people in their communities and support safe schools.
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