By Ron Hayes
A gay teenager appointed to the Boca Raton Community Relations Board after he made an impassioned plea for the city to add sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination policy has resigned.
In an April 3 letter to the board, Tyler Morrison acknowledges that, while he attended both elementary and middle school in the city and considers it his hometown, he is not a current resident, and therefore ineligible to serve.
Morrison said that he moved out of the house where he lived with his parents, forcing him to live with foster-care providers.
“When I ‘aged out’ of the system upon turning 18 earlier this year, I became homeless,” he wrote.
Morrison said he had “reached out” to the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, a gay rights organization, which has found him a safe place to stay until he leaves for college in Illinois later this month.
A music student at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Morrison drew media attention when he stood up at the City Council’s Nov. 14 meeting.
“Let’s value our diversity,” he told the council members. “Let’s include sexual orientation and gender identity and expression in our city’s anti-discrimination policy and protect everyone equally. It’s simply the right thing to do.”
The City Council has yet to address his request.
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