School teacher Susan Johnson suspended after playing rap song in support of same-sex marriage

Punished: Performing arts teacher Susan Johnson says she was suspended for three days for playing a song about being gay for her class

A Detroit-area performing arts teacher has been suspended without pay last week for playing a song about being gay during class.

According to middle school teacher Susan Johnson, the principal and assistant superintendent delivered the news to her after a student complained.

Johnson said she allowed the song Same Love by the Seattle-based underground rapper Macklemore to be played during her eighth-grade class at Centennial Middle School in South Lyon at the request of a student.

Afterwards, however, another student went to the principal and complained about the song. Johnson was later informed that she would be suspended for three days, and she wouldn't be paid for two.

'I don't think that it was really even thought through,' she told MyFox Detroit. 'I was paralyzed. I really didn't understand why I was being suspended.'

In a statement emailed to The Associated Press Thursday, South Lyon Community Schools Assistant Superintendent Melissa Baker said Johnson failed to follow district protocol, which requires teachers to preview taped materials and submit a form about them to a building administrator for approval.

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School controversy: Officials at Centennial Middle School in suburban Detroit told Johnson that she had to submit the song for approval before playing it for her students

It all started last Wednesday when an eighth-grader in Johnson’s class asked her to play the rap song Same Love which describes the struggles and stereotypes a gay man faces from birth to death.

The son was written by Macklemore and his producer, Ryan Lewis, in support of same-sex marriage, which was legalized in Washington state this month.

Since the music video of Same Love was posted on YouTube in October, it has been viewed nearly eight million times. 

The teacher listened to the lyrics to ensure that there are no profanities and mentions of violence, and came to the conclusion that her students might benefit from hearing a message of tolerance to counteract gay stereotypes and bullying. 

Life story: The song follows the struggles of a young gay man from birth to death

Inappropriate content: School officials took issue with the topics raised by the song, among them homosexuality, religion and political views

After one of her students complained to school officials about the song, Johnson was called in for a closed-door meeting when she was informed that  she was be suspended from teaching for three days.

The district claimed the song was not fit to be played in class since it explored such controversial topics as homosexuality, religion and politics views, and included a sexual slur.

'I'm very disappointed in the bias, the bigotry that I feel that they're really hiding behind,' Johnson said.

District Superintendent William Pearson told Hometown Life in an email that the teacher was required to preview the material prior to using it in class. 

Johnson has resumed teaching this week, but said that the American Civil Liberties Union and LGBT groups are getting involved in the matter on her behalf.

In response to a Daily Mail request, Macklemore released a statement Thursday which reads in part: 'I believe that Ms. Johnson getting suspended is completely out of line and unjust. 

'This level of intolerance and fear is still very active in America, but at times is not completely visible. This incident is just one of tens of thousands that have happened across the country where schools have exposed a latent homophobia, preventing safe space for all young people to feel confident in being themselves.'

Strong statement: The son was written by Macklemore in support of same-sex marriage, which was legalized in Washington this month

The rapper goes on to say that he wrote the song Same Love in hopes of starting a conversation about equality, and Johnson's suspenion demonstraes that people are often too quick to silence dialogues that must be had.

'It’s discouraging that a song about love and civil rights has led to a teacher getting suspended from her job.  

'But that’s where we are at. For those of us who get a pit in our stomach when reading a story like this, it just makes it abundantly clear there is far more work to be done,' Macklemore wrote.

'SAME LOVE' LYRICS BY MACKLEMORE: