A Washington D.C. high school principal stunned students when he came out as gay during a Pride Day speech. With his hands visibly shaking, Pete Cahall announced that he "hid in the shadows for the last 50 years" and was ready to come out. "I want to say publicly for the first time, because of your leadership, care and support, that I am a proud gay man who just happens to be the principal of Wilson High School," he said.
Cahall said he felt "liberated" about finally coming out because until Wednesday, only his close friends (not even his family) knew about his sexuality. His speech was warmly received by students. "That was so unexpected," said senior Tao Marwell. "I had no idea. I have so much more respect for him now."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 artfully drawn cartoons about Donald Trump's Epstein doodleCartoons Artists take on a mountainous legacy, creepy art, and more
-
Violent videos of Charlie Kirk’s death are renewing debate over online censorshipTalking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
Penn wipes trans swimmer records in deal with Trumpspeed read The University of Pennsylvania will bar transgender students from its women's sports teams and retroactively strip a trans female swimmer of her titles
-
Supreme Court may bless church-run charter schoolsSpeed Read The case is 'one of the biggest on church and state in a generation'
-
Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant moneySpeed Read The Trump administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts after Harvard rejected its demands
-
Harvard loses $2.3B after rejecting Trump demandsspeed read The university denied the Trump administration's request for oversight and internal policy changes
-
USC under fire for canceling valedictorian speechSpeed Read Citing safety concerns, the university canceled a pro-Palestinian student's speech
-
Florida teachers can 'say gay' under settlementspeed read The state reached a settlement with challengers of the 2022 "Don't Say Gay" education law
-
Biden administration to forgive $39B in student loan debt for 800K borrowersSpeed Read
-
Advocacy groups challenge Harvard's legacy admissions policySpeed Read
