This teen rapper says his school is trippin’.
An LGBTQ high school student in ritzy Chappaqua claims he was wrongly suspended for dropping gay “slurs” in a “satirical” freestyle he recorded inside his friend’s home, according to a new lawsuit.
The Horace Greeley High School junior’s “freestyle” rap in October 2022 landed him in hot water when he was secretly recorded by his friend while he was spitting some lyrics, the legal papers filed in federal court claim
The plaintiff attends Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua. Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News-USA TODAY NETWORK
The student, only identified as OJ in court docs, used the word “fa—t” and “twinks” during the rap session as he deployed “tongue-in-cheek” lyrics that are purposely “over the top parodies of rap music’s obsession with violence, crime, and sexuality” known as meme rap, according to the allegations, which were first reported by The Journal News.
OJ rapped in front of the buddy and another acquaintance, who is from a different school. OJ’s pal then recorded some of the Greeley student’s lyrics and mashed it with lyrics the acquaintance sang to create a single song that he then later put on streaming service SoundCloud without OJ’s knowledge or permission, the lawsuit states.
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“We split a bottle of beer, you know, f–k a couple of twinks,” are some of the cringe lyrics, per legal papers. “Fa—t, fart, balls. Fa—t, fart, balls.”
Ten days later, school officials in Chappaqua, known for being the home of Bill and Hillary Clinton, received two anonymous complaints about the song that pointed to OJ as one of the teens behind it.
While other inflammatory language was used in the mashed-up rap song that included references to violence and illegal behavior, the only words that the plaintiff actually spoke ultimately cited by school officials were “fa—t” and twinks,” his legal team argued in legal papers and an email to The Post.
School leaders forced him to undergo a psychological evaluation – which showed he was not a threat – but then suspended him three days under the school district’s “hate speech” prohibition because he used a pair of “slurs.”
“The administrators ultimately held up the suspension because OJ’s lyrics included the words ‘fa—t’ and ‘twinks’ – which they deemed hate speech,” the lawsuit states. “They did not care that OJ is a member of the LGBTQ community or that his use of these words was intentionally satirical, self-referential and self-deprecating.
The LGBTQ student claims he used a gay slur as satire. ZUMAPRESS.com
“By using the word ‘fa—t,’ OJ sought to reclaim a word that has been used as a slur against him and the LGBTQ community in general,” the lawsuit also states.
The lawsuit noted that “twink” is an expression used to describe a young gay man who is slim and looks like a boy, according to the Cambridge dictionary.
The school district, in a statement Tuesday, said it stands by its handling of the case. Some administrators, including the district’s superintendent and Horace Greeley principal, are listed defendants in the legal action.
“We believe the incident in question was handled both appropriately and legally,” a school district spokesperson said in an email.
OJ’s legal team, which includes attorneys from the free speech organization Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression noted their client didn’t mention his school or anybody in it and was hanging out off campus at a friend’s house during the freestyle.
With the student soon applying to colleges, he fears the suspension will be a blemish on this record.
“That suspension jeopardizes his future — and it violates the First Amendment,” FIRE staff attorney Colin McDonell said in a statement to The Post.
“Only parents should punish students for the juvenile things they say outside of school.”
