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But the effort has backfired.

WTWO-TV's original report is here. The original edit of the online version of the story is in my post from yesterday. Both versions of Paige Preusse's report have since been edited in what appears to be an effort to make Diana Medley look like less of an asshole. Here's the current version with the additions bolded:

Diana Medley is a special education teacher in town. She doesn't believe anyone is born gay. "I believe that it was life circumstances and they chose to be that way; God created everyone equal," said Medley. "Homosexual students come to me with their problems, and I don't agree with them, but I care about them. It's the same thing with my special needs kids, I think God puts everyone in our lives for a reason," said Madley.

"So the same goes for gays? Do you think they have a purpose in life?"

"No I honestly don't. Sorry, but I don't. I don't understand it. A gay person isn't going to come up and make some change unless it's to realize that it was a choice and they're choosing God," said Medley.

I don't know why the report was edited after airing and publication. But I have a hunch: I suspect that Medley asked the station to include more of her interview after she started getting grief for saying that gay people served no purpose in life. Because, hey, didn't she also say that she cares about her gay students? Yeah, yeah: she believes her gay students are going to hell, she believes being gay is a sinful choice, she's happy to be the public face of an effort to create prom that bans her gay students, and she doesn't think her gay students serve any purpose in life—but, you know, Medley cares about her gay students. She cares so much.

The additional quotes make Medley look far worse. Yesterday we didn't know if Medley was interacting with any openly queer students. For all we knew she might have been a special ed teacher in a kindergarten or a grade school. But now we know that this bigot is actually interacting with gay students and may be doing them real harm.

Diana Medley should be fired.

Sign the petition calling for her dismissal and send an email to Mark Baker, the superintendent of the Northeast School Corporation and Diana Medley's boss. Tell him to fire Diana Medley.