Gender statement leads to graduation ban for Kellogg student

KELLOGG — A Kellogg High School senior is being barred from participating in his graduation ceremony after he made comments about gender during a school assembly.

“Guys are guys and girls are girls. There is no in-between,” said 18-year-old Travis Lohr during the assembly, which offered graduating seniors the opportunity to impart words of wisdom to the high school’s underclassmen.

Lohr was informed afterward that he would not be allowed to walk in Saturday’s graduation ceremony.

He said Thursday that he meant no harm by the statement and that he wasn’t targeting anyone, although he was aware of the potential controversy it could create.

School officials would not discuss the specifics of the incident because to do so would violate federal law that protects student privacy.

According to multiple reports from staff at the school, the seniors were told their statements for the assembly could not contain slurs or racial remarks, among other requirements. The statements were then reportedly vetted before the students presented them.

“I was never told that I couldn’t say what I said,” Lohr said. “And I didn’t find it to be offensive to anybody, and I didn’t direct it toward any groups specifically.”

He connected the school’s decision to a senior prank he had participated in that involved defacing the front of the school and landed him and other students in hot water.

“They informed me that they think I’m going to have an outburst at graduation,” Lohr said. “I get the senior prank thing, but that was more of a group thing. I haven’t had a problem all year. I just think my message was taken the wrong way.”

Lohr denied that his statement was reviewed or that he was forewarned about it being potentially controversial.

However, during an interview later with the Idaho Freedom Foundation, Lohr said, "I had wrote something before, and I decided to change my statement. About an hour before, they had given our cards back."

Lohr said he doesn’t think he should be punished for something he believes.

“It’s more that people took it the wrong way. Everyone can speak freely, I can’t see why I can’t voice my opinion,” Lohr said.

Comments circulating in the community and on social media accuse the school district of restricting Lohr’s right to free speech and of giving in to “woke culture” with their decision.

Lohr said he hopes school officials will reverse their decision.

“I would love to walk in my graduation ceremony…Kids nowadays really support gay people, transgender people, and it wasn’t targeted at that but there’s a lot of confusion about genders in the world today and I figured that underclassmen might find something in me saying that,” Lohr said. “There’s a lot of support for other genders and other groups, but yet I don’t see any support for people who just believe in two (genders). I don’t have any hatred toward gay people or transgenders, just like I hope they wouldn’t have any resentment toward me for believing what I believe.”