A school in the US which suspended a pupil and barred him from graduating for starring in gay porn films has backtracked following students' protests over the punishment.
Robert Marucci, also known by his on-screen name "Noel", was outed as a porn actor for the gay site Sean Cody last week, and was "severely bullied" by classmates after the revelation.
He told local news station WKMG he took up a career in making porn films to help his mother pay the bills. After fellow students discovered his performance, they started sharing the images with each other on their phones.
Instead of holding the bullies to account, however, Cocoa High School in Florida decided to suspend the 18-year-old for 10 days, meaning he would automatically fail his year.
One Reddit user, who has since deleted his profile, alerted others to the incident, writing on the site:
"My cousin is a schoolmate with the model who plays Noel. Apparently this last week word got out around the school that he was in gay porn. He got severely bullied and, instead of helping him, the school will not let him graduate due to him causing a "campus disturbance". They suspended him for 10 days, which leads to an automatic FA (failure from absences).
"Several students planned to protest by wearing support shirts, making posters, and skipping a class. The principle is threatening to automatically expel any student who joins in.
"I am still very closeted, and it hurts to hear friends and family think this guy is a sick and disturbed person by being in gay porn."
LGBT news site Gaily Grind tracked down Noel's Facebook account and confirmed the student had been suspended.
Marucci wrote on his Facebook page: "Coming back to Cocoa isn’t the best for me but bringing justice to the disciplinary system and discrimination of the administration has not slipped my mind either!"
Meanwhile numerous students have changed their Facebook profile pictures to support Marucci, some even confronting the school's principal about the issue, the site reported.
The teen will be allowed to return to school next week, but the school is denying the reason for his expulsion was due to his film roles.
When quizzed by the Gaily Grind, the school said it could not disclose the reason for the student's suspension.