Not Just Words

May 5, 2007

Author: Bob Audette

Source: Reformer.com

http://www.reformer.com/headlines/ci_5824569

Though Vermont has a reputation for being tolerant and accepting, one local high school student recently learned that disrespect has many faces. And sometimes it can be scary.

The student, a 15-year-old Marlboro resident who practices Wicca, never expected to have her beliefs attacked in the form of an offhand joke.

"I told him several times to knock it off, but he didn't stop," said Gwen Williams, about a classmate who was quoting from a Monty Python movie.

"She's a witch," she said, repeating what he said to her. "Burn her."

He told her he was only kidding, but she interpreted it as intolerance. Rather than losing her temper with the boy, she walked out of the classroom, she said.