A Kansas teacher has been asked to “step down” after he showed a group of students an LGBT anti-bullying video.

Social studies teacher, Tom Leahy at Conway Springs Middle School in Kansas shared a touching viral video with his group of students after her overheard some homophobic language from pupils in his class.

His attempt at increasing understanding and sympathy among his students backfired and “upset people”. After receiving complaints from religious parents – he was asked to step down from his job over 20 years. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnOJgDW0gPI
He showed his class the short film, Imagine A World Where Being Gay The Norm & Being Straight Would Be The Minority, which went viral in 2013 and has racked up more than 12million YouTube views since. 

“I knew something was going to happen. I just didn’t know this would happen. There are people who don’t want their children in my classroom. I thought that I’d take a little time off and then come back, and people would cool their heels and everything would be better. That didn’t happen.

“I didn’t want just a dorky little film, I wanted something that was important, something that was serious. So that’s the one I came up with. I’m not saying what I did was very smart. It really wasn’t, but I’m a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy, and it seemed right at the time.”

The school has made no comment.