confirmed to the Des Moines Register that Kaufmann was placed on leave — effectively punished — for answering his students' question honestly.
On Tuesday, students at Winterset Junior High School rallied to the teacher's defense by walking out of class, with some draping Pride flags over their shoulders."When I was in junior high it would have been great to have a bisexual teacher or someone that I would feel safe talking about my sexuality with," 10th-grader Kiona Newbrough told the Register.