WATCH: Arkansas School Nixes Lesbian Student's Homecoming Speech

A high school in Arkansas last week canceled a program of speeches traditionally given by members of the homecoming court, and students say it’s because one participant initially wanted to talk about being a lesbian, even though she eventually agreed not to address the subject.

Quitman High School’s homecoming ceremony took place Friday night. School administrators told an Arkansas TV station the speeches were removed because the program was becoming too lengthy, but students and staff say that wasn’t the reason.

A 15-year-old student, who was not identified, gave the speech in question a week ago during a rehearsal for the ceremony, reports Little Rock station KARK. The speech said she was born a lesbian and that the most memorable moment of her life was coming out to her parents.

After the rehearsal, she and her parents told school officials she would remove the lesbian content from the speech. But administrators went ahead and canceled all the speeches anyway, KARK reports.

“After she changed it, I don’t think it should’ve been as big of an issue as it is,” Jennifer Bowen, a friend of the student, told the station. Bowen continued, “It just kind of reverses how I’ve been taught what our community really is. It was a matter of standing up for who you are and what makes you you. And I don’t think we’re allowed to do that.”

School administrators were “completely liberal” about whatever other topics students wanted to address, including religion, said another schoolmate, Bree Mash. The student who planned to talk about being a lesbian “feels like she’s been singled out and it’s not fair,” Mash told KARK.

An LGBT Democratic group issued a statement condemning the Quitman High School action, the Arkansas Times reports. "The Arkansas Stonewall Democratic Caucus is saddened to hear that another LGBTQ high school student in AR has been treated unfairly by a school administration and board who is censoring an important event in this child's life," said the statement from caucus president Tippi McCullough. "This treatment is wrong and at the very least schools should protect and give our children confidence by respecting them as the person they were created to be."

Earlier this year, Sheridan High School in Arkansas refused to publish a yearbook profile of a gay student.

Quitman High School students say they’ve contacted the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union about the situation. Watch the KARK report below.