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T-shirts like the one worn by the anonymous Lynn English High School student are widely available online.
A Massachusetts high school has set off a national free speech debate after a student was reprimanded for wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed, "All the Cool Girls Are Lesbians."
The student, who hasn't been publicly identified, complained in a letter to Judith Flanagan Kennedy, chairwoman of the Lynn, Mass., School Committee — and mayor of the town — that in January, she was asked by a vice principal to cover up the T-shirt and never wear it again, the Lynn Daily Item reported.
In the letter, as quoted by the Daily Item, the student said a teacher referred her to a vice principal because of the T-shirt. The vice principal agreed with the teacher that the shirt was inappropriate "because it's political and offensive to some people," the student said she was told.
"Well, frankly I'm the one who feels offended," she wrote in the letter to Kennedy, adding: "The word lesbian is not inappropriate. Saying it is, is calling homosexuality inappropriate."
Kennedy agreed with her.
Kennedy told members of the School Committee at its meeting last week that she had done some legal research, "and I believe she is right."
The school's dress code prohibits clothing that depicts weapons, drugs or alcohol, or anything considered disruptive, but it doesn't specify gender issues, Kennedy said. The school has a Gay/Straight Alliance, demonstrating its tolerance for such expressions, she said.
The debate over such expressions quickly spread beyond Lynn, a city of 90,000 about 20 miles northeast of Boston, much of it on pro-gay-rights sites like SheWired and The Advocate.
"Truth hurts...," one commenter wrote on SheWired's Facebook page, while another said she "would love to get my hands on a tshirt lol."
But Dallas Chambers, a program director at radio station KISS-FM in Amarillo, Texas, took the side of the assistant principal, writing on the station's Web site that "we have a ton of idiots in our world, students need to be paying attention in class! Not being distracted by naive little girls that think it's cool to be a lesbian."
Jeanne Sager, a blogger for CafeMom, also objected, but on different grounds:
"I'm raising a kid in a pro-gay rights household. That means she's learned that gay kids are just like her. They're equal," she wrote under the headline "Student's 'All Cool Girls Are Lesbians' Shirt Was Way Out of Line."
"What doesn't it mean?" she asked. "That gay kids are 'cooler' than her any more than it means she's cooler than the gay kids."
By M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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Leave a Comment:
Gays are about nothing but deviant sex. Totally unnatural! Dont believe it? Try putting 50 hetero women and 50 hetero men on one island, and 100 gay men on another and 100 lesbos on the other. Go back in 100 years...you will see that it just doesnt work out: Two empty islands and one highly populated. And for all of you morons that say they are "born that way", well, I guess pedophiles, rapists, murderers should use the same argument. They couldnt help it, "the were just born that way".
Put 50 lesbians and 50 gay guys on an island together and they will fare just as well as 50 hetero men and 50 hetero women, and much better than an island of 100 straight men or 100 straight women.
Good thing we don't live on islands...
EngEsq....too bad you have no logic skills. What a MORON!!!
I fear you are the one lacking logical skills. You took a situation that is entirely contrived and extrapolate a conclusion based upon it that has no bearing on reality.
1) Gay people are capable (and often do) procreate. Just because they do not do it with their partner without outside assistance does not change this.
2) Gay people in a small portion of the population are better for community survival. So an island with 50 straight men and 50 straight women would not survive as well as an island with 46 straight men, 46 straight women and 8 gay people.
But whatever, I doubt you can comprehend this anyway.
Not to mention the gay populated island would become gentrified and go up in value. It would become a tourist destination for the people on Hetero Isle.
Very good analagy.
what if that t-shirt would have said cool girls are straight I bet there would have been law suits and people would have lost their jobs. Gays can not have it both ways if you find it offensive then you cant turn around and do the same thing. This country is falling fast with all the offensive @!$%# and hypocrisy going on and the schools and socialist liberals are to blame. Schools are to teach not for political statements keep that sh*t to yourself and at home. And by the way It is very wrong to say cool girls are lesbians it makes you trashy and no better then the other hate mongrels and groups who think they are better then everyone else.
Okay folks, here's a teaching moment:
dww333 says (as an example) Cool girls are straight.
The t-shirt says Lesbians are cool (don't forget they are girls)
Therefore Lesbians are straight. ???????????
Your homework assignment: Fix the argument. Due tomorrow in class.
It's a T-SHIRT... for god sakes!!! people get offended by everything! i'm offended by women who look like macho men...stinky unshaven/unwaxed...gross! so i should protest against them because they make women look like trash.
The bizarre thing is in California kids have been sent home for wearing a shirt w/ the Stars & Stripes on it.I'm no holy roller cuz I'm an atheist so I'm not going to say homosexuality is an abomination but it's abnormal behavior & I'm tired of today's society acting like it's perfectly natural.Since the beginning of mankind MEN +WOMEN=FURTHERING THE SPECIES.The t-shirt doesn't bother me personally so why not wear a T that says "Polygamy is great cuz u get to sleep w/ a different wife every night" or "Being Bi-sexual gives u the best of both worlds". The schools policy I assume is DON'T WEAR SHIRTS W/ ANY STUPID SAYINGS ON THEM at all.Period the end.
I think every kid in that school should wear that same shirt to school on the same day to show the administration how stupid they are.
It's just a shirt. Get real.
So let the kids wear any t shirt with any words on it. This is why they have dress codes.
Maybe people find Vice Principals of schools offensive?
Just watch. Three days. The Principal announces he/she is GAY!
Betcha!
So the school has a Gay/Straight Alliance but students can't wear harmless pro-gay tshirts?
@Ken Martelli: Go back to your cave, troll. Go on. Get!
I like the one mom's take... if you really want equality, well, equality means just that... you're equal, not better. As for whether the school was right to take the action it did, yes they were. The school has an established dress code against anything that can be deemed disruptive - well, look at all the fuss this shirt has caused. I'd say that qualifies as disruptive. Meanwhile, kids have their free time away from school for self-expression... as well as the entire adult lives. They're in school to learn - and even if this kid was well-meaning, there are those that will wear shirts like this just to attract attention to themselves. Again - that meets the definition of "disruptive".
An easy fix.........all the straight kids (probably 98%+ of the student body) should wear "Straight is Great!! t-shirts. Just sit back and watch the hypocisy and double standards of the liberal PC movement as they get their panties/briefs/boxers in a wad.
The ACLU would be in that school so quickly.
An easier fix, Irrisor:
Ban t shirts with sayings on them altogether.
Here's a shirt for ya girls, "Lesbians, the cereal that leaves a bad taste in your mouth"
How about, "I'm a lesbian in a man's body!"
Brent - about to die laughing here! TY
But you can't wear a shirt that says Smith and Wesson on it?
Oh NO Blamo...that is the 2nd amendment. You know, those shirts with gun company names KILL people..SCARY...oh, and those companies also made weapons that allowed us to win wars and give us FREEDOM..forgout about that!
The stupid!!!! It burns us!!!!
Seriously? Have you ever met an actual homosexual man? They are, by and large, even pickier than heterosexual women. If a dude can't score with a woman, he'll get ZERO traction on the other team. Your (spurious) argument falls flat. <insert "waa waa" horn sound effect here>
What is so amazing is that if the girls are really hot lookers, it's a total turn on, But if the girls are not hotties thay are just a couple of nasty disgusting bulls. whats so amusing is most of the mens mags feature a exclusive section with two or three hotties tearing it up, and the largest audience for this are the straight guys go figure.
I was thinking the exact same thing who wants to see some broad who looks like a dude munching some other hag...revolting. Smokin hot lesbo's going at it is better than a masterpiece work of art. But I'd never want to see 2 dudes going at it no matter how handsome & I can't see 2 straight chicks wanting to see that either.
I feell alot of people are missing the point ...... tell me what is right about a child wearing a shirt that talks about sexual orientation ...... no form of shirt or any clothes should depict any kind of sexual nature in what is a learning environment ...... not only does this story make me sad but it makes me wonder what school will be like when i put my lil girl in it
Sexual orientation is not about sex, and I'm sure your little girl will know more about it than you do by the time she is in high school.
Sexual orientation IS about sex, or the word "sex" would not be in the would "sexual" are you serious? that's the obvious!
Teenagers are sexual beings. That doesn't necessarily mean they engage in sex. But it does meean they are becoming aware of their owwn sexuality, and aware of their attractions towards others. It is a time when they learn to interact in a more serious way with those they are attracted to. The idea that high school can be some asexual sterile learning environment is ludicrous.
If by sex one means the physical act, then no, sexual orientation does not always refer to sex. There is more to a relationship, nd to one's sexual orientation, than the physical act. Sexual orientation describes an enduring pattern of attraction—emotional, romantic, sexual, or some combination of these.
So since the cool girls are lesbians, a girl who is not a lesbian is "uncool"? Translation = Inferior?
As a straight man I share certain common interests with lesbians.
Unless the kid was brain dead she knew the shirt would cause a problem. The interesting point of this story is the parents of the student seem to be in favor of the shirt, otherwise they would have told the girl not to wear it. So one has to ask what is their role in this matter? Are they active in the homosexual "community?" The writers in these posts who indicate the schools have little control are right. The ACLU has pressed so many lawsuits that the schools are forced to operate under the rule of court decisions made by judges who have no idea of the chaos their decisions cause in schools, especially high schools where groups, in this case lesbians, have an agenda that is based on furthering favorable court decisions. An option in these cases would be for the school districts to fight it out in court and force groups like the ACLU to expend their resources fighting school districts around the country. Accordingly, parents should show their support for the school districts to move to the courts and to, if need be, fight decisions that run contrary to their personal beliefs upward via the appeal process.
Chaos? It's just a T shirt. I'm sure there are students wearing worse.
Ever worked in a high school? How about if some of the kids start wearing t-shirts with "God is Great" on them? Ever hear about polarization of students and staff. Think about it.
Yes, God is Great, but the T-shirt doesn't say "Those who believe in God are greater than those who don't"
He shirt clearly states, lesbians are cooler than normal people.
1 - Simple solution is school uniforms
2 - This whole argument is based on a wrong premise - that telling her the T-Shirt is inappropriate is saying the word Lesbian is inappropriate. IF someone had worn a T-Shirt that said All the Cool Girls are White American Girls - they would have been told it was inappropriate, and rightly so, even though there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a white American Girl. (Or if it said All the Cool Girls are Heterosexual Girls - or All the Cool Girls are Conservative Christian Girls - or All the Cool Girls are Muslim Shiite Girls ) Just because a word is included in an inappropriate remark does NOT mean everything that is a part of that remark is inappropriate - STUPID LOGIC.
3 - Just seems to be an attempt to stir up problems. I refer back to #1.
It is ridiculous that this is even a question. They should kick that girl out of school immediately for promoting immorality. Homosexuality is sin and that will never be changed because God said it is so. If you have a problem with that take it up with God!
Dr. E
Sorry, public schools do not follow the arbitrary rules of any particular religion. They are for everyone.
I did, and after a heated debate god conceded that he was wrong on this issue. He told me he would put out a memo correcting all this misunderstanding after he finishes giving kids cancer and spreading AIDS around Africa.
drmark
You forgot the /sarc/ tag.
Someone might take you seriously.
The school has a dress code so follow it. I don't care if your a lesbian find a date without wearing a t shirt advertising yourself
King sums it up well. Straight, bi, gay, whatever. It's not cool to go around advertising one's sexuality. Keep it to yourself cuz I ain't interested.
This is high school, Blamo. Sexuality is advertised constantly. They hardly need a T-shirt.
This t-shirt is VERY tame. I guess you have not seen what most teenagers are wearing today, because in comparison this is a nun's habit.
Jock she just is real direct with trying to find a girlfreind. She is a billboard with that shirt. When she gets out of high school she can go into advertising, but until than she has to follow the rules
The fact that the T-shirt is tame is sort of what is sad. I guess I am getting old but I miss the days when sex was still S-E-X!!! You know before it became a political talking point, an ad campaign for Viagra or a high school kids T-shirt slogan. I honestly feel sorry for kids these days. We really have not left a lot of taboo or mystery for them have we? Oh well as they say ignorance is bliss. They will never know what they are missing. Sigh.