Many children grow up watching "Sesame Street" and absorb a message of tolerance for everyone and their differences. But that message gets swiftly thrown by the wayside when teachers and school administrators can't even practice this important virtue.

A 14-year-old Arkansas boy and his parents sued his school district and four teachers claiming his rights were violated when he was punished for talking with classmates about being gay. The ninth-grader said teachers told his parents he was gay, preached to him, forced him to read the Bible and disciplined him for talking about his sexual orientation.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Thomas McLaughlin, names the Pulaski County Special School District and teachers and administrators at Jacksonville Junior High School. The school district said last month in a letter to the ACLU that McLaughlin's discussions outside of class time disrupted the learning process and that it was appropriate to discipline him.

In this case, it looks as if the administrators, not the student, need detention. Here is a student so secure in who he is that he's willing to openly discuss it with classmates. He's not taking class time or using the classroom as a forum, he's expressing himself outside of the learning environment and being persecuted for it.

And not only is he punished, but teachers preach the Bible to him in a public school as a way to help with his "problem." It seems McLaughlin should teach a lesson to his instructors: He's comfortable with who he is, and they should be, too.

McLaughlin said in an interview Tuesday he wants himself and other gay students to be able to go to school without having to lie about their sexuality.

The fact that he has chosen to fight this battle so others don't have to is commendable, while the supposed adults' behavior is too reprehensible for words.