Student told again not to wear anti-gay T-shirt

[davidinalameda]

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=105901&src=2

A federal judge has once again ruled that a Neuqua Valley High School student cannot wear a shirt to school that reads "Be Happy, Not Gay."

U.S. District Judge William T. Hart declined to issue a temporary injunction that would have ordered school officials to allow sophomore Alexander Nuxoll to wear the shirt this April for the "Day of Truth."

The "Day of Truth" is a response by conservative groups to an annual "Day of Silence" on which students wear T-shirts and remain silent to show their support of gay and lesbian students.

Last year, Nuxoll, of Bolingbrook, and then-senior Heidi Zamecnik of Naperville filed suit against Indian Prairie Unit District 204 after Zamecnik was forced in April 2006 to edit her "Be Happy, Not Gay" T-shirt. An administrator blacked out the "Not Gay" portion. The school has a policy that prohibits derogatory speech.

[Divine Discontent]

1. right on!

tired of the bad 'christians' judging people and attacking them in this manner - glad to see it stopped for this instance!

[Deja Q]

2. Another reason why schools should get back to the practice of proper uniforms.

It's a fair and equal solution for all. No more slogans, no more gossip or looks, get back to learning and open them books.

Heck, that might help the purported problems in the educational system too; I've learned what people now in their 60s went through as children and it sure as hell makes sense...

[Fearless]

5. Uniforms are just a means to control independent thought...

And I can't stand for that.

[davidinalameda]

6. plaid is a form of mind control

[fenriswolf]

11. seconded

people should be independant that includes the cloths they wear. it just gets kind of difficult for society to judge what is appropriate and what is not. It may be easier to say "let them all wear the same thing, then no one would have a problem" but what is a world where we all wear the same thing? whats next, identicle lunches? hairstyles? you can see where this rant leads.

[TalkingDog]

15. You actually have an independent thought?

Name one.


or as Frank Zappa once sagely suggested performing Live at the Circle Star, from 20 Years on the Road when someone told him there were "cops in uniform" in the audience:

Everyone in the room is wearing a uniform, and don't kid yourself.



My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[Fearless]

21. Independent thought means only independent from the norm...

Those who engage in independent thought are those who see things differently or from a different angle from either the majority and/or those in power. Of course there is independent thought, otherwise nothing would ever change.

[TalkingDog]

22. Seeing pre-existing ideas or conditions from a different angle,

still supposes that the thinker uses those ideas as a basis of their thought. They cannot be completely independent of those pre-existing ideas.

So there can be no independent thought. There can be critical and/or creative thought that joins previously disconnected ideas together, but none that is independent.

Yes, I'm picking apart your statement to a ridiculous degree. But I'm not doing it to rag on you specifically.

A couple of millinea ago, someone said (and I'm paraphrasing here) Every idea is a footnote to Aristotle. With the understanding that humanity is all part of an endless experiment of recombination of ideas, concepts, styles and processes. Americans, on the other hand, have a rather peculiar fetish for their uniqueness. They don't seem to want to heed history or it's lessons. Which lends to this current uncomfortable point in our social and political being.

Saying that school uniforms quash independent thought, could suggest that teenagers are little more than fashion-bots whose mental acuity hinges on a pretty, shiny facade. In other parlance: they are shallow and can't relate to each other without the socio-class coding of outerwear.

Every coin has two sides. There is nothing good about being totally unique and independent. It would basically mean no one else could understand you, even if your ideas and thoughts were grounbreakingly brilliant and could save humanity for just pennies a day.

And that's my 2 cents worth.


My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[FunkyLeprechaun]

7. I agree with you

It would have made my mornings easier!

And there were plenty of suggestive t-shirts during my High School years that could merit the uniform rule (the Co-Ed Naked craze was going on then).

[varkam]

3. Day of Truth?

Sounds absolutely love. :puke:

Good court decision, IMO.

[NMMNG]

4. I wonder if those wingnuts would have been ok with

an anti-Christian T-shirt.

Equal time and all. :shrug:

[dsc]

8. He should get to wear the shirt

If the school lets the GSA speak they should let the opponents of the GSA speak too. I don't like it but free speech is for everyone, not just some.

[Jella]

9. While I agree with free speech...

it needs to be controlled in a school environment, that is under the grade of 12. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've met far to many, and remember too many that have been harmed in their adolescents in schools.

Uniforms could go a long way in helping with this type of issue, and creativity can be expressed through many other ways. Music, art, writing as well as acting and dance.

I do agree with you in that both sides should be heard, but it should be done in a forum that is more inclined to debate both sides of the issue.

I use to believe that we all go through, or most of us go through some tough times in school, and that we get over it as we get older, but really in the case of gay youth, it seems to go much deeper, and it could be decades of struggle, abuse, and depression that can really wreck lives. Statistically, it may be that it's only a small percentage, but to be selfish.... it's our youth that are being affected.

[dsc]

10. I have been there

but I also fear for the flip side. What if my GSA wishes to have t shirts and my school decides to ban them because they are 'contraversial'. I think there are still quite a few school districts are more likely to ban GSA t shirts than the t shirts in the article.

[fenriswolf]

12. while i agree with you

free speach is free speach i also completly agree with the school. Derogatory languege should not be allowed in the school, negative languege does not do any good whatsoever. expecially if your single out a group in general.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

13. i dont think public school is the place to be discriminatory

i dont think anti religious shirts should be allowed, even if i am an atheist

[dsc]

14. what if they argue that God made gays too

is against their religion? I could see them making the case.

[Zuiderelle]

16. That's not discriminatory. However, I don't think that any religious themed t-shirts

should be allowed, discriminatory or inclusive, like "God Made Gays Too". It would be like a shirt that says "God Loves You" or "Jesus Died for your Sins"... none of those are appropriate as they would be offensive to many non-Christian students.

A shirt saying "Being Straight Sucks" should be disallowed too, just as "Be Happy, Not Gay" should be, as both of those are discriminatory.

[dsc]

17. I think the religious shirts should be allowed for students but not for teachers.

[insleeforprez]

19. I agree

During the most recent Day of Silence at my (liberal) high school, a Christian came up to us and said "Jesus didn't support gay marriage." I then abandoned the silence doctrine and engaged him in a (relatively) civil debate. My feelings weren't hurt, I don't think his feeling were either. However, a teacher came up to us felt that I needed help talking to this person. (I'd also like to think that I won that debate... but I digress).

My point here is that <b>we can't silence our opposition by calling them bigots</b>. We need to face that there are good people out there that disagree with us, engage them in debate, and not just unequivocally state that they are wrong. THAT is how we will win people over.

[dsc]

20. great for you

I wish I had been as brave as you are now, when I was your age.

[lightningandsnow]

18. It's a dumb shirt.

Of course, because being told not to be gay will suddenly make me straight. :sarcasm: