Oregon man included in case brief in landmark LGBTQ ruling

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    MULTNOMAH COUNTY, OR (KPTV) — A ruling from the Supreme Court this week means employers cannot fire someone for their sexual identity or orientation, and an Oregon man was actually included in the case brief.

Brett Bigham taught special education for the Multnomah Education Services District. He was also the 2014 Oregon Teacher of the Year, and this week, he took to Twitter to discuss the harassment he faced as a gay man in that district.

Bigham said his supervisor told him to keep his mouth shut about his sexual orientation, even telling him he would be “shot in the head” if he came out publicly.

Bigham also said the district stopped him from discussing suicide prevention with the Gay Student Club. He says the harassment and discrimination only got worse after he visited the White House and made a statement supporting LGBTQ youth.

Bigham was eventually fired, but his tweets about what happened have reached millions of people.

“I have thousands of messages and they’re all people saying thank you and congratulations, so that’s been kind of overwhelming,” Bigham said.

Six years after his termination, the Multnomah Education Services District has posted a public apology to Bigham on their website.

“We apologize to Mr. Brett Bigham … no one should have to endure the discriminatory actions he describes experiencing at MESD,” District Board Chair, Helen Yang, wrote, in part. “They were wrong when they occurred, just as they would be wrong today.”

Bigham said the decision was huge and a validation for everybody in the LGBTQ community that has spoken up against discrimination and abuse.

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