Battle on Gay Pride Shirts Leads to Suit Against School
Over the course of a normal school year, I find myself inundated with examples of adults who seem bent on teaching our children exactly the wrong messages. And people complain about having survived Catholic schools….
I can understand an administrator’s need to create and maintain a positive, wholesome environment conducive to learning. That is, after all, what a school should be. What are we teaching our children, though, when a student is admonished for wearing a T-shirt with a positive message, albeit one that runs counter to the majority opinion- particularly when other students are allowed to wear shirts displaying support for the flip side of the argument?
The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit yesterday against a Missouri high school that twice admonished a gay student for wearing T-shirts bearing gay pride messages. The suit charges that the school violated the youth’s constitutional right to free expression.
By the account of the civil liberties union, the student, Brad Mathewson, a 16-year-old junior, was sent to the principal’s office at Webb City High School on Oct. 20 for wearing a T-shirt that he said came from the Gay-Straight Alliance at a school he previously attended, in Fayetteville, Ark. The shirt bore a pink triangle and the words “Make a Difference!”….
A week later, Mr. Mathewson was again admonished for wearing a gay pride T-shirt, this one featuring a rainbow and the inscription “I’m gay and I’m proud.” Told once more to turn the shirt instead out or leave, he chose to go home and was eventually ordered not to return to school wearing clothing supporting gay rights.
There was nothing in Mathewson’s demeanor or attire that could have been construed as divisive, disrespectful, or disruptive. The T-shirts bore a positive message, and by all accounts Mathewson was simply trying to express himself on an issue on which other students were allowed to express an opposing opinion. In other words, then, we’re teaching our children that the only “free” speech is acceptable speech.
Mr. Mathewson began attending the school, outside Joplin, in September. In a statement issued by the civil liberties union, he said: “The school lets other students wear antigay T-shirts, and I understand that they have a right to do that. I just want the same right. I think tolerating each other’s differences is a key part in teaching students how to become good citizens.”
Schools should not be in the business of vetting political expression. Either all political speech and expression should be acceptable or none should be. Administrators should not be in the business of determining which form of free expression passes muster. If students are allowed to wear shirts expressing anti-gay sentiments, what, then, is so wrong with wearing pro-gay shirts that bear a positive message? Given the clearly Conservative nature of this area of the country, would students have been allowed to wear shirts supporting John Kerry or other Democratic candidates? Where do you draw the line?
Yes, schools need to be able to control speech advocating violence, hatred, intolerance. Our children deserve a safe, positive environment in which ALL viewpoints are valued- not just those that happen to dovetail with an administrator’s narrow Conservative Christian opinions. If students are allowed to wear anti-gay shirts, then Mathewson was doing nothing wrong in expressing an opposing, if clearly unpopular, opinion.
Mathewson wasn’t expousing support for violence, discrimination, or any form of unlawful behavior. Should he not have the right to express his views, given that other students are allowed to express opposing sentiments?
Apparently, free speech is a cherished right in this country…just as long as you’re not a high school student with the courage of your convictions. Welcome to the New World Order, y’all….
I'll agree with you here -- the kid has a clear right to wear the shirt under Tinker v. DesMoines.
I assume, of course, that you are equally supportive of the kid in San Diego who wore a shirt calling homosexuality a sin who was suspended and dsirected to "leave his faith in the car".
Or is it only "blue kids" who you believe have rights under the First Amendment?
Ah, Greg. Strawman arguments uber alles, eh?
The kid in San Diego has a right to wear his shirt.
The kid in Webb City has a right to wear his shirt.
Neither kid has a right to disrupt the school -- and NOBODY ELSE has a right to disrupt the school because they don't like either shirt. That includes fellow students, all teachers, and all school administrators. If parents want to write letters to the editors or make protest statements to the school board, fine. But they don't have the right to disrupt school either.
And Fred Phelps' hatred should only reflect off the world back onto himself and his ill-bred ilk.
Personally, I'd like to see students leave their inflammatory T-shirts at home and concentrate on their education. Yes...religion, politics, whatever...it doesn't belong in the classroom. Of course, who gets to draw the line? Therein lies the rub.
Of course, we could forego this whole argument by just going back to uniforms.
Hey, for me this is real life stuff. I deal with these very issues on a daily basis, because I am a teacher. So I'm notcreating strawmen -- I'm looking at real issues.
Like the fact that I know of one local school that allowed anti-war shirts to be worn, but suspended a kid for wearing one that depicted Osama & Saddam with bullseyes on their foreheads (on the grounds they constituted advocacy of violence). The contrasting case I put out here is the same type of thing -- and so I am very serious in asking if the first amendment is for "blue kids" only.