A student has been banned from attending his high school graduation ceremony and has had a firefighting job offer rescinded after stating that there are only two genders.
Travis Lohr, an 18-year-old student at Idaho’s Kellogg High School, appeared on “Fox & Friends” on Sunday to discuss the punishments he is facing for stating the truth.
During a high school assembly where seniors give advice to younger students, Lohr stated: “Girls are girls, and guys are guys. There is no in-between.” He has since explained that he had spoken from the heart in that moment, deviating from his preapproved remarks.
Speaking to the Idaho Tribune, the student noted that he did not “direct” the comment “at any groups or anything like that.”
“It was just something I chose to say in the moment,” he said, adding that the comment was met with an “uproar of cheers.”
A protest was held on Friday against the school’s decision to ban Lohr from participating in the graduation ceremony, with more than 100 parents, students and community members gathering in support of Lohr.
Over 100 parents and students protested Kellogg High School's decision to punish a student for saying "Guys are guys and girls are girls. There is no in-between."
In spite of today's protest, Travis Lohr will not be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony. pic.twitter.com/lS9gMsiZwl
— Idaho Tribune (@IdahoTribune) June 2, 2023
One protest attendee was bus driver Dakota Mailloux, who attended on his own time but was still fired for participating, according to the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
During his interview with Fox News, Lohr told host Rachel Campos-Duffy that he was not asked to apologize for his comment nor would he have apologized if asked.
“What I said I believe in, and I stand by it,” the student said.
“I wasn’t able to walk at graduation. My offer to work for the forest service was rescinded,” Lohr added, noting that his job was going to be “fighting wildland forest fires.”
He went on to tell Campos-Duffy that he was scheduled to start this new job on Sunday — but when he went in to fill out the final paperwork for the position, his boss stated that he was rescinding the offer.
“That’s part of life, as I am learning, and I am going to continue to grow from here. I’m not going to dwell on it,” Lohr explained.
“I don’t believe I would have been punished at all, personally, if I had said ‘Black lives matter,’” Lohr asserted.
“For this to happen over what I said, it’s just controversial… If people speak up like I did… it seems frowned upon. You can be punished for it, obviously, like I’m being punished,” he added.
“It’s reassuring to know that I’m not alone and realize what I did wasn’t wrong,” Lohr said, referencing the outpouring of support he has received from peers and people in the community.
Idaho state Rep. Heather Scott (R) sent out a tweet on Friday blasting the school’s decision.
“Unacceptable!” Scott tweeted, pointing out that Lohr had been banned from the graduation ceremony simply for stating “scientific fact.”
She also blasted the school for firing “an off-duty bus driver for joining the peaceful protest,” and called for Shoshone County to “rally around truth and our first amendment rights.”
UNACCEPTABLE! The Shoshone County Kellogg High school graduation is canceled for all students! So how I am understanding this is:
1. A student speaks scientific truth at a school assembly (“Guys are guys and girls are girls. There is no in-between.”)
2. Science denier “adult”… pic.twitter.com/AHKSbkzuBh— Rep. Heather Scott (@HeatherScottID) June 2, 2023
While the school district previously announced that graduation would be delayed over supposed “safety concerns,” Kellogg High School ended up holding the ceremony on Saturday morning — though the school district’s superintendent, Lance Pearson, allegedly asked parents and students to keep the time of the ceremony “under wraps,” according to local news outlet KHQ.
