A local professor -- accused of teaching sexual content to his class -- was suspended without pay through August for requiring his class to read a work by early 20th century author James Joyce, Local 4 reported.

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Professor Says Suspension Violates Free Speech

John Bonnell, 64, a language and literature professor at Macomb County Community College, told Local 4 he's trying to teach his students to be free thinkers, to read between the lines, and understand the nuances of really good literature.

But college officials said he had crossed the line after a student recently filed a complaint for the content Bonnell was teaching in class, Local 4 reported.

The complaint followed Bonnell's teaching of a short story by Joyce called, "The Boarding House", that contains sexual innuendo.

A passage from "The Boarding House" reads: She knew he had a good screw for one thing and she suspected he had a bit of stuff put by.

Bonnell explained to his class that Joyce, in the interpretive sense, was saying a "good screw" is a reference to the sexual function between a young woman in the story and a 35-year-old man.

Bonnell has protested his suspension by carrying signs around campus that say, "Loose Quips Sink Professorships," "Censors Don't Tread On Me," and a sign with a picture of an American flag covered with footprints.

"A relentless witch hunt has been in progress where the school has been trying with all of its might to silence me or get rid of me," Bonnell said.

The college told Local 4 it could not comment on matters about employees without a written waiver or legal proceedings.

Although it was the fifth time Bonnell had been suspended, he said he plans to stay at the college.

"Well, I'm 64-years-old now, and it's a little bit late in the career to pull up stakes," Bonnell said. "And, in another case, it doesn't matter because the censorship octopus is spreading its tentacles all over the nation."