COMMENTARY: Stop the hate! Free Kate!

Barb Hamp Weicksel | San Diego Gay & Lesbian News | May 21, 2013

Meet 17-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt:

• Sebastian River High School Senior • Cheerleader • Voted “most school spirited”

the 18-year-old Kaitlyn Hunt:

• Expelled • Arrested • Charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a child 12 to 16 years old

Kaitlyn “Kate” Hunt is – or I should say was – in a relationship with another female student.  Kate and this other young woman started dating when Kate was 17 and a senior, and the other young woman was15.

They played on the same basketball team. But the coach feared that the romance would cause “drama” and made it very clear that he didn’t approve of their relationship, so he kicked Kate off the team.

Let’s be clear. The 15-year-old girl’s parents said nothing, asked no questions or raised no concerns to Kate or to Kate’s parents about their 15-year-old daughter being in a relationship with the 17-year-old Kate.

It was only after Kate turned 18 and was continuing the relationship that the parents of the 15-year-old asked for charges to be pressed. Kate was arrested and taken from her home in handcuffs.

A judge ruled that Kate could continue to go to her high school if she did not have contact with the 15-year-old. The girl’s parents were not happy with that decision, made an appeal to the school board, and Kate was then expelled. Reports are that she will be allowed to attend senior events and graduate from Sebastian River High School.

Also, according to reports, the District Attorney is pushing Kate to take a plea deal: Two years on house arrest, plus one year probation, and the charges would stay on her permanent adult record.

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Kaitlyn Hunt Refuses Plea Deal; To Stand Trial On Underage Relationship Charges

On Top Magazine | May 24, 2013

Kaitlyn Hunt on Friday rejected a plea deal, deciding to face felony charges in connection with an alleged underage relationship with a fellow female student.

Hunt began dating the student 3 years younger than herself when she was 17.  After she turned 18 in February, her girlfriend’s parents went to the authorities, who arrested the teen and charged her with the felony of “sexual battery on a person 12-16 years old.”  After officials at Sebastian River High School refused to expel Hunt, the parents appealed to the school board and had her expelled.

She had until Friday to accept a plea deal that would allow her to avoid registering as a sex offender if she pleads guilty to a charge of child abuse.

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Anonymous Hackers Seek Justice for Teen Charged With Underage Same-Sex Relationship

Kristen Gwynne | AlterNet | May 22, 2013

Florida teen Kaitlyn Hunt was arrested and charged with “lewd and lascivious battery of a child 12 to 16 years” earlier this year, prompting controversy over her same-sex relationship. Hunt, who is 18, had been dating a 15-year-old girl she met through sports and classes at school. Her parents say her girlfriend’s family alerted the police because they disapproved of their same-sex relationship and believed Hunt “made” their daughter gay. They maintain that the relationship was entirely consensual, and that the age gap is common among teen couples.

Hunt, a cheerleader voted to have the “most school spirit,” was expelled from Sebastian RIver High School in Florida, where she was a senior, even though a judge decided she could stay. Her basketball coach also kicked her off the team to avoid “drama.” Now, a branch of Anonymous hackers called “Operation Justice” have targeted the Indian River County State Attorney’s Office, as well as Sebastian RIver High School in Florida, for what they have labeled “intolerance.” Many LGBT and Civil Liberties advocates have pointed out that relationships among teens with similar age gaps are rarely prosecuted when they involve an older male and younger female.

“Greetings, Bigots. We are Operation Justice,” Anonymous hackers wrote in their  public letter to the Indian River State Attorney’s Office, “The last operation our team conducted led to the case of Rehtaeh Parson’s being re-opened and to an independent investigation into the actions of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. You may have read about us. Now we are in Florida and you should have expected us.”

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Teen Girl Faces Felony Charge Over Lesbian Relationship, Mom Blames “Religious Zealot Parents”

Alex Kane | AlterNet | mAY 20, 2013

The case of a Florida teenager being prosecuted after she was in a same-sex relationship with a girl three years younger is  generating outrage. Kaitlyn Hunt, an 18-year-old student, is facing felony charges of sexual “battery” after the parents of her 15-year-old girlfriend pressed charges. The case has sparked Internet petitions and and a statement from Anonymous.

Hunt began dating her girlfriend when she was 17. The relationship was reportedly  well-known to both sets of parents. When Hunt turned 18, her girlfriend’s parents went to the police and she was arrested on felony charges of “sexual battery on a person 12-16 years old,”  according to Think Progress.

Hunt’s mother says the charges are motivated by  anti-gay bias on the part of the girlfriends’ parents. “They were out to destroy my daughter, they feel like my daughter ‘made’ their daughter gay. They are bigoted, religious zeolites [sic] that see being gay as a sin and wrong, and they blame my daughter,”  Hunt’s mother wrote on Facebook.

Hunt has also run into trouble at the school she attends alongside her girlfriend. The girlfriends’ parents had her expelled, according to Hunt’s mother, despite the fact that a judge refused to order the expulsion. The school board made the decision to keep Hunt out of school for the remaining weeks of her senior year. Hunt is now forced to attend an alternative school for the remainder of the year, though she can attend special senior events at Sebastian River High School.

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Florida Teen Arrested, Expelled From High School Over Lesbian Relationship

On Top Magazine | May 19, 2013

The parents of a Florida teen had her girlfriend arrested and expelled from high school shortly after she tuned 18.

Kate Hunt began dating a female student at the start of the year, according to an account posted on Facebook by Hunt’s mother, Kelly Hunt Smith.

“They were both students in the same high school, it was a mutual consenting relationship on both parts,”Smith wrote.  “This was unusual for Kate, she has always dated boys, but being the kind of mother I am, I didn’t want to make it a big deal.”

After Hunt turned 18 in February, her girlfriend’s parents pressed charges against her.

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