Melrose High School Teacher Posts On IG That He Hopes Veterans Who Voted For Trump Suffer From PTSD, Calls Parents Who Voted For Trump Racist “Filth”

 

This is Gevorg Keoyesan, a science teacher at Melrose High School.

He is a communist who has the transgender propaganda flag displayed in his classroom, which he posed in front of while wearing a “Fuck Trump” shirt.

Like many of his ilk, he is not handling the election results very well. Yesterday on Instagram he posted the following in honor of Veteran’s Day.

“Happy Veterans Day to any vet who didn’t for for Trump. Otherwise I hope your Veterans Day is filled with tears and PTSD.” 

Studies show that PTSD affects at least 15% of veterans. On average over 17 veterans die every day from suicide. This man advertised for the world to see, on a day in which we are supposed to honor the sacrifices of our veterans, that he hopes that those who served our country are suffering from a serious psychological disorder that leads to suicide. He probably has at least 100 students a year in his classes, and odds are that several of them have parents who are veterans. Exit polls show that roughly 65% of veterans voted for Donald Trump.

Mr. Keoyesan also posted his thoughts about anyone who voted for the man who won with a plurality of the vote:

“I clearly underestimated how many closeted racist, homophobic, immoral bigots are in this shithole of a country. They’d rather vote for a convicted felon, openly racist, rapist, with no respect for women, than for a woman. I have more respect for the uneducated plebs waving their Trump flags on the side of the road, than for the millions who voted for him but would never sack up and admit it. You won’t proudly admit that you voted for him because you know it was the wrong thing to do. My timeline was flooded with pro-Kamala voters, and one person openly supporting Trump. So either I’ve done a good job of weeding out filth from my friend and follower list, or you’re all fucking cowards. On behalf of my daughter, my LGBT students and peers, and anyone else whose rights you’ve sacrificed, fuck you.”

1. Calling over half the country “uneducated plebs” because you don’t agree with who they voted for is extremely offensive and inappropriate for a teacher to post on social media
2. The fact that he demands that people “admit” who they voted for in a secret ballot election, so that he can shame them and post about how they deserve to suffer from PTSD, is exactly why people are afraid to openly admit that they voted for the winner of the election.
3. Calling anyone who voted for Donald Trump “filth” is genocidal language, meant to dehumanize over half the country and make it easier to justify incarcerating or killing them.
4. Although they were a minority, many in the LGBT community voted for Donald Trump.
5. There are many reasons people chose not to vote for Kamala Harris. To suggest that anyone who voted for Trump did so because they are an “immoral bigots in this shithole of a country” is in and of itself a bigoted statement, and illustrates a lack of understanding the plight of millions of Americans. Exit polls show that one of the biggest factors in how people cast their ballots was the state of the economy.

 

6. Calling all Trump voters racist is a played out cliche that the voters rejected. Over 54% of Latino men voted for Trump, as he increased his vote total with women, Latinos, and young voters, while doubling his vote total with black voters.

 

Mr. Keoyesan also posted a meme that is extremely offensive to Catholics.

“Confession reinforces our sense of guilt and shame, which is integral to the Catholic faith. Plus all the priests really get off on it.”

Over 50% of the Melrose population identifies as Catholic.

Keoyesan’s posts were widely seen by students and parents who now understandably don’t feel safe in his classroom if they have family members who voted for Donald Trump. Mr. Keoyesan has proudly made it clear that he views anyone who voted for Trump as subhuman “filth,” and believes they are racist, homophobic, and cowardly if they don’t openly admit it to him. If you were a student whose parents had a Trump sign in their yard could you expect to be graded or treated fairly if this man was your teacher? Would you feel free to express your political opinions as a student knowing that this teacher thinks you are racist if you do so?

As a former teacher I am disgusted by Mr. Keoyesan’s online behavior. I went to great lengths to hide my political opinions from students, knowing that it was unprofessional for me to promote one political viewpoint over another. This is something all teachers should do in order to make all students feel welcome in their classroom. Mr. Keoyesan is more than welcome to vote for Kamala Harris and express his support for her on his social media. But demeaning and dehumanizing those who feel differently is completely inappropriate, and he is unworthy of continuing on as a teacher moving forward. He should be fired immediately.

I wrote an email to Melrose High School Principal Jason Merrill looking for comment but have not heard back yet.

Last year Mr. Merrill hosted the “Not Hate Tour” at Melrose High School, a program that features X-games bikers and promotes tolerance.

 

Their mission (which school districts pay them to do) is to prevent bullying, and promote being an ally, inclusion, and kindness.

But Mr. Keoyesan’s posts reject the idea that there should be any inclusion with those whose political opinions he disagrees with. He rejects the idea of kindness, and promotes witch hunts and bullying of those who dare not to vote for a woman who didn’t win a single primary election.

The teacher’s contract specifically states that “if members use social media they will do so in accordance with the Acceptable Use Policy and the Electronic Communication and Social Media Policy.”

The policy is not intended to infringe upon a staff member’s right to speak publicly on matters of public concern, but their speech as public servants can be limited if it means that they cannot command and receive the respect of students, or remain objective with their students.

Clearly a significant amount of Mr. Keoyesan’s students will no longer respect him or believe that he can remain objective towards them if they reveal who their parents voted for.

The Melrose Public Schools states that although students are free to express their opinions, the school has a right to restrict or limit speech that causes disorder or disruption within the school.

Mr. Keoyesan’s hate filled social media posts have been widely viewed by students, and certainly has caused disruption within the school.

The school’s social media policy clearly states that Mr. Keoyesan cannot hide behind the excuse that he didn’t think his posts would be seen by students.

His posts violate the City of Melrose employee policy that no city employees can make posts that “perpetuate discrimination on the basis of religion,” which Mr. Keoyesan clearly did with his anti-Catholic posting. It also states that staff must refrain from personal attacks, which Seoyesan clearly did not adhere to when he called all Trump voters “filth.”

As a former teacher I learned the hard way that your free speech rights are limited, because although you have the right to say whatever you want, you don’t have a right to be a public school teacher. And when teachers go home and post on their social media accounts they are ALWAYS representatives of the school district and must behave themselves accordingly.

 

Feel free to contact Principal Merrill at [email protected] and demand that he hold bigoted teacher Gevorg Keoyesan accountable.