ROGERSVILLE, Ala. — An Alabama high school teacher and football coach has been secretly recorded in a classroom setting launching verbal tirades directed at First Lady Michelle Obama and LGBT people.
Bob Grisham, the Lauderdale County High School head football coach — who also teaches driver’s education and psychology — made the slurs in the presence of students in a classroom setting. The recording was captured Monday by a student who is now facing disciplinary action, according to a source in the offices of Lauderdale County School’s Superintendent Jennifer Gray, speaking on the condition of remaining anonymous.
That person also confirmed that school district officials are investigating the allegations.
The investigation centers around a 1-minute, 24-second audiotape of Grisham asking who knows who is behind the 600-calorie school lunch.
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“Fat butt Michelle Obama,” he said. “Look at her. She looks like she weighs 185 or 190. She’s overweight.”
Later in the tape, Grisham referred to the U.S. as going in the “wrong direction” and tells the students, “I don’t believe in queers. I don’t like queers, I don’t hate them as a person, but what they do is wrong and an abomination against God.”
The Times Daily reported that Grisham said that he misspoke.
“I misspoke in a debate-type situation,” he said. “I have no hatred toward anyone or any group. People that know my heart, they know that.”
Superintendent Jennifer Gray told the newspaper that a link the audio recording was sent to her in an email.
Listen here:
Teacher’s Racist and Homophobic Rant in Classroom
“It’s an unfortunate situation, and we hope to clear this up as soon as possible,” Gray said. “Before we do anything, we’ll investigate this thoroughly and gather information from other people,” she said adding “Whatever we do in response to this situation will be dictated by board policy.”
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Grisham has been teaching in the Lauderdale County school system since 1991 and has been at Lauderdale County High School the past five years as a teacher and head football coach.