Originally Posted By skinnerbox Yet another very conservative school district goes after gay supportive students for wearing so-called 'political' t-shirts at school. And before any of you claim that the school had the right to do so, read the entire article first. The school's totalitarian stance on the pro-gay t-shirts in light of administrator's actively ignoring more politically provocative t-shirts all year long, including anti-abortion shirts with pictures of fetuses and 'Obama is a socialist' messages, demonstrates what this is actually about: homophobia. The students have a solid case and there is precedent set by SCOTUS in 1969 concerning censorship of this nature: <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/10/31/1118441/ohio-school-suspends-students-for-wearing-straight-but-supportive-t-shirts/" target="_blank">http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/...-shirts/</a> <> Ohio School Disciplines Students For Wearing ‘Straight But Supportive’ T-Shirts By Zack Ford on Oct 31, 2012 at 2:10 pm Last week, two students at Celina High School celebrated “Twin Day” with T-shirts that read “Lesbian 1″ and “Lesbian 2,” but they were forced to remove them. In response, some 20 students went to school Tuesday wearing home-made T-shirts that read “I Support… [Rainbow] Express Yourself” and “Straight but Supportive,” a show of support organized by sophomore Jimmy Walter. Assistant Principal Phil Metz forced all the students to remove the shirts because they were “political,” and those who did not were given detention with the threat of suspension. Though Metz and Principal Jason Luebke have yet to respond, Superintendent Jesse Steiner offered this weak defense for the disciplinary action: STEINER: The only reason they would be told that they couldn’t wear something is if it is a disruption of the educational process, or if it’s not allowed in the handbook. And there’s a line in our handbook about drawing undue attention to yourself. It’s true that the student handbook limits dress that could “materially interfere with school work, create disorder, or disrupt the educational program,” but Steiner’s interpretation of that policy in this case is grossly unconstitutional. ACLU Ohio points out that this is considered a “heckler’s veto,” an attempt to shut down free speech that the administrators in the very conservative district happen to disagree with. Erick Warrner, a Celina junior who brought attention to this situation on Reddit, points out that plenty of “political” dress is regularly tolerated at the school, including “Students for Life” anti-choice T-shirts with pictures of fetuses, as well as blatantly political shirts supporting Mitt Romney for President or calling President Obama a socialist. In fact, just this week the school hosted a Romney campaign event at which Paul Ryan spoke. Both the students and the school are consulting lawyers, but it’s clear the students would have a winning case. In the 1969 case of Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court ruled that “state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism” and students are entitled to free speech so long as it does not “interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school.” Benignly gay-supportive t-shirts come nowhere close to meeting that standard. If anybody disrupted the educational process, it was the administrators who removed the students from the classroom and violated their First Amendment rights. <> Conservative Republicans sure love to talk about the value of FREEDOM. But only when said FREEDOM supports *their* values.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 <<< Thankfully is sitting down. I agree. Either you allow the students to wear shirts that support gay marriage, or pro-life shirts, or pro-Obama or Romney shirts. Or you don't. The school administrator's needed to make a stand one way or the other.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Leave politics out of school...This goes for the School Administration as well as the kids themselves. A simple policy banning all politically volatile t-shirts would easily solve this issue.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 On one level I agree... but do you really think "straight but supportive" should be considered "politically volatile?"
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 On one level I agree... but do you really think "straight but supportive" should be considered "politically volatile?"<< It's walking the line...The problem is on one hand these shirts are a distraction and are taking away from what should be a learning environment. On the other hand I am sick of people who are "offended" for no other reason than to get attention. Almost any shirt with print could be considered offensive to anyone else in these crazy times.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <It's walking the line> We have different ideas of "the line," then. To me, it's simply a positive statement - saying "I'm straight but I have no problem with gay people." No more offensive than saying "I'm Christian, but I have no problem with Jewish people."
Originally Posted By Longhorn12 >Leave politics out of school< Oh dear... you simply don't understand how the world works do you? >The problem is on one hand these shirts are a distraction and are taking away from what should be a learning environment.< You realize "part" of education is also the social aspect right? Like how to deal and accept people wearing shirts with messages you may or may not like.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Tell that to the parents and students who are offended by just about anything anyone wears... I am sure if I walked into that school wearing a "Marriage is for a man and woman only", I would offend quite a few students...
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <I am sure if I walked into that school wearing a "Marriage is for a man and woman only", I would offend quite a few students...> Yes, you might, as that is a shirt that says "some people are more equal than others" and "everybody needs to abide by what my particular religion says." It's a negative message rather than a positive one; one of exclusion rather than inclusion.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>A simple policy banning all politically volatile t-shirts would easily solve this issue.<< As the first post says, the school had exactly that policy. But they only decided to enforce it with these particular shirts. The pro-life shirts with the aborted fetuses on them apparently didn't violate this policy.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 As the first post says, the school had exactly that policy. But they only decided to enforce it with these particular shirts. The pro-life shirts with the aborted fetuses on them apparently didn't violate this policy.<< But they aren't enforcing this policy equally which is wrong...
Originally Posted By TomSawyer School uniforms rock. There's something to the idea of having clothes that you wear only for "work" that you change out of when you get home. It changes how you carry yourself.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 School uniforms would be a great idea, but am sure many Americans would find a way to witch about it.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 My mom always said uniforms would always have been the easiest for my sister and I when we went to Catholic school she would have known exactly what clothes to put out or what we would pick out for that day. Of course the trick would have been not mixing up our clothes.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<Of course the trick would have been not mixing up our clothes.>> Do Catholic schools allow cross-dressing?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Do Catholic schools allow cross-dressing?<< I don't think it's okay to put clothing on the cross.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 Probably not but I don't look good in the Catholic schoolgirl outfit. Heck if I did it now I'd look like Chris Farley in one of those Gap Girl skits.
Originally Posted By Ivan Here is a novel idea why not allow all overtly displayed political statements in public schools. That sounds to be the most fair. Free speech needs to be protected in public places.
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