A Queens principal barred a fifth-grader from reading an essay he wrote urging respect for gay marriage at a school-wide contest today, NY1 reported.

PS 195 principal Berryl Bailey told the boy, Kameron Slade, he’d either have to write on a different topic or else drop out of the competition.

His mom said Bailey told her it was because parents at the Rosedale school might not want their kids exposed to the issue.