But Kaitlyn and her parents didn't know that the complexities of being a teenager, and raising one, were nothing compared to the stink of bigotry and hatred laying in wait, plotting a way to utterly destroy the life of an innocent and bright teenager.
Why?
You guessed it. Kaitlyn was dating a girl.
18 year old Kaitlyn was arrested for a romance that began in November with a 14 year old student, and now faces two felony counts of "lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12 to 16." Police took Kaitlyn away from the Hunt-Smith household in handcuffs back in February.
Kaitlyn's mother, Kelly Hunt-Smith has stood by her daughter, claiming that the other parents had never reached out to her or stated that they had any problem with the relationship.
The Sebastian River High School refused to expel Kaitlyn despite the parents' plea to have her removed from the school. The parents successfully managed to get the school board to remove Kaitlyn weeks before graduation, however she finished school elsewhere and will be able to walk from Sebastian River.
Kaitlyn Hunt with her father, Steve.
Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar claimed that the prosecution was entirely based on the age difference, and not sexual orientation. There's no reason to believe that's not true, after all this won't be the first time that Florida has prosecuted an 18 or 19 year old senior for a relationship with a younger student.
However, the larger question is whether Kaitlyn would have even been arrested in the first place had her girlfriend's parents not brought the situation to the authorities.
However things may have gotten a little stickier this week.
Circuit Judge Robert Pegg eagerly pushed back 200 pending criminal cases to get to Kaitlyn's trial, a move which Hunt's attorney, Julia Graves claims was driven by bias towards Hunt.
It's hard not to leap to conclusions about the Florida justice system shortly after the arrest of Kiera Wilmot, another Florida minority, for conducting an impromptu "science experiment" that could have landed her in prison as a domestic terrorist.
Fortunately for Kiera, the charges were dropped and she has been allowed to return to school to graduate, thanks in part to an outpouring of support for the science community. While the bigotry Kiera faced was very real and should not be forgotten, Kaitlyn faces a much more recently accepted level of bigotry, a type of hatred not just accepted in her part of the country, but applauded as just.
Although Kaitlyn has received an outpouring of support from around the world, much of that world and her's still view Kaitlyn's sexuality as deviant, regardless of her age or her girlfriend's.
State prosecutors offered Hunt a plea bargain that would allow her to avoid registering as a sex offender if she pleads guilty to child abuse. However that felony charge would remain on her record and affect her college and job prospects, and require her to be on house arrest for two years and probation for one.
State attorney Bruce Colton stated that the prosecuting family does not want Hunt to face jail time, but to be held "responsible." Its true that prosecutors, police, and school administrators are technically doing their jobs, and there really is no objective proof that any of the elected or appointed officials have acted out of prejudice, at least not yet.
But the most reprehensible party in the entire situation are the parents of Kaitlyn's girlfriend. Parents who are vested enough in their child's life to contact the police regarding her girlfriend, but unwilling to talk to anyone in their daughter's life.
What kind of relationship could they possibly have with their daughter? The sad fact is that despite the turning tides of public acceptance towards gays and lesbians, these parents likely believe they are acting in the best interest of their daughter by destroying the life of someone else's.
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