US school pulls gay teenagers' 'potentially offensive' yearbook quotes

Two gay students’ comic quotes were removed from an American high school’s yearbooks without warning because they would “potentially offend” students.

Joey Slivinski and Thomas Swartz said they submitted their quotes before graduation like other seniors at Kearney High, in Missouri this summer.

But the pair, whose ages are not yet known, say when they received their yearbooks there was a large gap beneath their photos.

In a statement, the school said it removed the quotes because they could “potentially offend” students and have apologised to the graduates.

Mr Slivinski told KCTV News: “I went to find my quote in the yearbook but, nothing was there.

“It was a blank picture under my name.”

He added: “I'm proud to be from Kearney and I'm proud to be who I am. I'm just disappointed at what happened.”

The teenagers, who are both openly gay, said they chose quotes that they thought were funny and inspirational.

Mr Swartz’ quote jokingly referenced Harry Potter, stating: “If Harry Potter taught us anything, it's that no one should have to live in the closet.”

Slivinski's quote read: “Of course I dress well, I didn't spend all that time in the closet for nothing."

In a statement, the school said: “District administrators were made aware of concerns regarding the removal of senior quotes from the school yearbook. Each year, graduating seniors are provided an opportunity to pick a favorite quote to be placed in the yearbook.

"In an effort to protect our students, quotes that could potentially offend another student or groups of students are not published. It is the school’s practice to err on the side of caution.

“Doing so in this case had the unintentional consequence of offending the very students the practice was designed to protect. We sincerely apologise to those students.”

The two graduates said they now plan to make stickers to insert their quotes into their yearbooks and those belonging to their friends.

Mr Swartz added: “They need to know what they do is wrong.”