#mascoutah

SOAPBOX SATURDAY CONTINUES WITH BREAKING NEWS:

MASCOUTAH, Ill. –– A local middle school principal said his ideas about gender identity have changed in the years since he wrote online that he believed transgender women “are NOT women.” “If they were, I could have plastic surgeon give me pointed ears and an eyebrow lift, spread my middle and ring finger in a salute while saying live long and prosper…and that would somehow make me a Vulcan,” he wrote in a Facebook post that a leader from the state’s civil rights organization for LGBTQ people called “wrong-headed and hurtful.” Paolo Dulcamara’s Facebook profile was public when he was hired to become Mascoutah Middle School’s new principal in January, which means anyone could see his posts online. The profile has since been deleted. Superintendent Craig Fiegel said Mascoutah District 19’s hiring process includes doing a “quick internet search” on a potential employee, but that it wasn’t the district’s practice to search for every Facebook profile. “I personally do not use Facebook and was not made aware of Paolo’s Facebook until shortly after he was hired,” Fiegel wrote in a statement. “There were a couple posts that were, I felt, sensitive and after he and I visited, I felt might misrepresent his true feeling and suggested he might rethink his posts.” “I remained comfortable with him as our choice,” Fiegel added. “The interview team consisting of parents, staff and administrators chose him, and all reference checks were outstanding.” Fiegel said he didn’t see the post about transgender women when he was looking at Dulcamara’s profile after he had been hired. “I think there are certainly comments/views in this post that do not need to be expressed,” Fiegel stated. Dulcamara, in a statement, wrote that he is now saddened by the tone of his comments, which he posted to Facebook in October 2015. “It is unfortunate that I, or anyone, would ever communicate a perspective or view with a negative or disrespectful tone,” he stated. “Such a tone does not reflect who I am. In reading this post from nearly three years ago, I see how my views have evolved in the face of our ever-developing society.” Dulcamara wrote of his views today, “I fully accept and respect the legal, social and personal identification of a transgender person to live their life free of prejudice or bias as I fully accept and respect the right of each person to live their life free of prejudice and bias…”