Pancholy’s website states that the award-winning author gives speeches about “diversity and inclusion.” Pancholy is someone who actively supports causes and has been a member of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Shaffner explains in a phone interview with TODAY.com that he was worried that Pancholy might deviate from the planned script and discuss politics.
“Discussions about politics should be kept at home and not brought into the classroom,” says Shaffner. “Several board members visited his website and what caught our attention is that he is a political activist.”
The spokesperson for Cumberland Valley School District, Tracy Panzer, says that the school principal collaborates with staff members to select young adult authors who have won awards to visit and meet with students.
Panzer says that Pancholy’s visit was not originally planned by the board. “However … one board member suggested canceling the invitation for author Maulik Pancholy’s visit this year,” Panzer explains. “In the end, the board decided not to permit the visit.”
Tony Conte, who used to go to Mountain View Middle School, posted an open letter to Shaffner on Facebook. In the post, Conte talked about his past as a gay teenager who kept his sexuality a secret. He mentioned that he had thoughts of suicide at times.
“I, like many other kids who were considered ‘different’, experienced teasing for reasons I didn’t understand. I struggled to make friends and develop a positive mindset that it’s okay to be unique,” Conte wrote.
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During high school, Conte mentioned that he made friends with someone who was quite different from him. “He hung himself before we could become close and share our challenges,” Conte wrote.
“I believe that if I had listened to a variety of voices like Pancholy’s in a large room, reassuring me that it’s alright to be unique, perhaps my time in middle and high school would have been different,” he added. “A presentation like this could have saved a life, such as the life of my friend.”
According to The Trevor Project, students who attend LGBTQ-affirming schools are 30% less likely to be bullied by their peers if they identify as LGBTQ. Pancholy’s work is centered around young people in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
As a child, I frequently felt ashamed for simply being myself. I was made to feel bad about myself because I am Indian. I was made to feel bad about myself because I was thin and small for my age. Pancholy said in 2015 that he was made to feel ashamed for being gay. “When I was a child, there were moments when I felt unsafe simply because of my identity.” As an adult, there are times when I still feel unsafe because of who I am.
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