A high school graduation speech telling students to “choose a spouse” based on “biblical principles” is sparking outrage online according to NBC News. “Choose a spouse, I suggest,” alumnus Jim McGuire said in a commencement address at River Valley High School in Caledonia, Ohio.
“I also strongly suggest to make sure to choose biblical principles, you know a male with a female and female with a male.” Caledonia, about an hour north of Columbus, had a population of 560 in the 2020 census. Since the speech last week, McGuire’s remarks have been called “hateful” and “inappropriate.”
Alexis Osipow, a 2018 River Valley graduate who was at the ceremony to support her younger sister, told the local newspaper, the Marion Star, “When he made the comment that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, my jaw dropped to the floor, and I honestly thought I was hearing it wrong.”
“I had to look around and see if other people were having the same reaction that I was, and they were,” she continued. “I felt like crying when I heard some people in the crowd clapping. But I was absolutely outraged and so were my parents and brother. I heard people behind me whispering about how inappropriate the comment was as well.”
McGuire’s words have been dubbed “hateful” and “inappropriate” since his address last week. “When he made the comment that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, my jaw dropped to the floor and I honestly thought I was hearing it incorrectly,” Alexis Osipow, a 2018 River Valley graduate who was at the wedding to support her younger sister, told.
