Dutton told the Globe via Instagram that he received a standing ovation from the students when he concluded his remarks.
“I actually had over 15 to 20 kids come up to me after the event to tell me how moving it was,” Dutton said. “I then was asked to sit down with 15 to 20 other students because I was asked by the principal to mentor them because of how powerful my speech was.”
But some people were reportedly upset over his invitation, and the superintendent of the Nantucket Public Schools, Beth Hallett, addressed their concerns in a message to students and families over the weekend.
Hallet, the Nantucket Current reported, wrote that Dutton “visited Nantucket High School to speak with students and staff about the importance of building confidence, believing in self-worth, and understanding the role that each person plays in fostering a positive school culture. While his message was engaging and uplifting, it has since come to our attention that some of Mr. Dutton’s public views reflect perspectives about women that are inconsistent with our school’s values of respect, inclusion, and equity.”
Hallet, the Current reported, stressed that officials “were not aware of these perspectives beforehand, as they were not evident on his professional website. We want to be clear that Nantucket Public Schools does not condone messaging that demeans or restricts the dignity or agency of any individual.”
Among Dutton’s public comments that raised eyebrows, the Current reported, was a video he posted to Instagram on the day of his speech on Nantucket.
In the clip, he quotes a scriptural verse from the New Testament book of Ephesians that says in part, “wives submit to your husbands, for the man is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church.”
“The problem is not just that women won’t submit to their husbands,” he continued while driving. “It’s that men today, Christian men, they’re not even worth submitting to. … Christian men are weak, and it’s making it challenging for women to want to submit.”
In her message, Hallet said that officials are creating a new committee to review speaker candidates to ensure “that their messaging, both professional and personal, aligns with NPS’s core values, vision, and mission,” the Current reported.
Neither Hallet, school principal Mandy Hileman, nor members of the Nantucket School Committee immediately responded to requests for comment Friday.
Dutton, meanwhile, said his speech was initially well received before he was “persecuted for being a Christian and having traditional Christian beliefs after the fact.”
He said portions of “content from my social media page being taken out of context in slandering me while framing me as a misogynist is just not right.”
If “believing that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and following the [tenets] of my Bible make me an evil man and unfit to work with high school students in this country according to them, and so be it,” he said.
On his website, Dutton says he “joined the U.S. Marine Corps to escape the streets, and found discipline, structure, and the belief that he was built for more.”
Today, Dutton is “a motivational speaker, mindset coach, and walking proof that your past doesn’t define your future.”
On Friday, Dutton framed the controversy as a First Amendment issue.
“Last time I checked I had freedom of religion,” Dutton said. “Making a basic high school speech political is crazy. Moreover, my faith was never pushed on to that audience. I’ve never seen a group of adults turn their back on God like that. It’s honestly horrific.”