Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta, GA -- A gay-bashing, student-written editorial published last month in Kell High School's student magazine met with sharp rebuttal in Wednesday's edition in an opinion column and a defense of the publication in the letter from the editor.

The original opinion piece, headlined "Homosexuality: Beyond the Bible" and written by football player Thomas Benjamin, referred to homosexuals as "diseased" and a "mistake of evolution."

Inkwell editor-in-chief Sarah Antonuccio wrote in the Wednesday edition that she and her staff were frustrated that their morality and ethics were questioned for publishing Benjamin's editorial.

"Because we made high-schoolers stop and think about something other than their weekend plans and focus on a national issue, we were questioned....We had a right to do what we did, and we were questioned," she said.

Publication of the Benjamin column kicked off debate over whether student publications should be censored by school administrators. Cobb school system officials said Kell principal Trudie Donovan was aware of the content before publication and decided to let it be published.

Student Karissa Buckner, who referred to herself as "a minority" in the Wednesday opinion column, wrote that Benjamin's assertions were "utterly ridiculous."

She said, "New ways of thinking and our changes in lifestyle" have altered society's perceptions about divorce. "Why not take the next step into the revolution?" she wrote.