School Superintendent Removed After Trans Student Denied a Role in OKLAHOMA!

BroadwayWorld previously reported on the production of Oklahoma! at Sherman High School in Texas, in which a transgender student was denied a role he was previously cast in.

It has now been reported that Superintendent Tyson Bennett, who had been suspended with pay since early March, is now out after the school trustees approved a voluntary separation agreement.

Read the full story HERE. 

Max Hightower, a senior at Sherman High School, was cast in his first lead role, but was later told he could not play the role, a move he believed was due to him being transgender. Max and his parents were notified two weeks after Max was cast in the show by the school principal that there was a new policy, requiring the cast members' roles to match the gender they were assigned at birth.

Following the news of Superindentent Tyson's removal, Max's father, Phillip Hightower, shared, "I hope that moving forward, LGBTQ+ students feel a little bit safer than before, and I hope they are allowed to be their true selves,"

Choir teacher Anna Clarkson shared that when the school was set to perform Legally Blonde in 2015, Bennett asked her "how in the world I thought it was appropriate to have lesbian and gay characters in a high school production,"

Under Bennett's leadership, the district also hired a church leader as its "coordinator of character education."

Read more HERE.