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CafePress.com
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:
A simple solution to the problem would be to require uniforms in school. Many private and public schools use them and it prevents this and other problems associated with proper dress at school. My son went to catholic grade school and everyone wore the same uniform and buying school clothes took about 5 minutes.
Makes too much sense.
Besides, then what would all the simple-minded people have to rant and rave about?
I am sending my kid to school tomorrow with a @!$%# that says I hate all teachers
Wow, you just won the stupidest parent of the year award!! Grats!
your a hatefull
person
dohara is the type of parent that teachers dread.
I feel sorry for her kids, because they probably inherited the same chip on their shoulders about authority.
IT'S CULTURE WAR,msnbc,the mouthpiece of the white house,wants us all to focus on bogus social issue's.IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID,and obama screwed the pooch,we will not be distracted,and obama will be fired this november.can you brainless,blind,parroting liberals say,"lame duck"
I hate when idiots can't engage in conversation because they don't know how to focus on the topic at hand!
I think it may be a long, hard year for you.
Very few of the posts on here have anything to do with the real topic at hand..
Crazy al I like how you think
And a prayer on a high school wall had to be removed?
Umm, 1st Amendment protects free speech and separates religion from government (including public schools). So this is very consistent.
A student can still wear a shirt that says "all the cool kids love jesus."
This is a socialists view of "consistent". In other words it's a disgrace that a prayer had to be removed but wierdos can parade around all day with total immunity.
Ok Dev, I guess the founding fathers were all "socialist" then, because they set up those rules. And good thing too, otherwise we'd be just like Iran.
did you take your meds dohara?...you are off track
"Socialists"??
WTF does socialism have to do with anything?
Socialism is an economic system.
The level of ignorance displayed by some of these remarks on here is very depressing.
hell i may make my kids wear @!$%#s that say I have a bomb straped to my ass
immorality how about the govt trying to get the pledge of allegiance stopped from being said because it offends the commies or the jews or the towel heads who dont worship christ give me a break this country is going to hell in a hurry
Your just full of tolerance aren't you? How would you rate commies, jews, fags and towel heads? Are they all going to hell together, or are some getting there faster than others?
Obama yea we need another 4 years of his ass lets spend spend spend bring the country to its knees
It sounds like the money could be better spent on English lessons.
Unable to focus on the topic at hand because he's not able to write a legible sentence, all he sees is another chance to spew his hatred for a man. Get the hell out of here with your Obama mess. This topic is about a T-shirt idiot!
My T-shirt says Obozo is an O-hole. (Obama is the new word for ass, the symbol of his party)
Grow up, for Christ's sake.
What are you, in eighth grade?
It's past your bedtime.
The US slips more and more into the Socialist Agenda driven cesspool everyday.
What could this possibly have to do with socialism? LOL.
Nothing, but all of a sudden for the past few years, everything is political. I wonder why?
Enough already with the socialism thing.
Tired, you wouldn't know socialism if it jumped up and bit you in the ass.
oh but while we are spending lets make an issue out of a T-shirt really like the news cant find any thing bette tto write about how about the 5 million people accused of child sex offending crimes and out of that 2/3 are false because this country allows it to happen to promote jobs child service agencies are a crime that needs to be investigated. each state federally funded to rip children from their homes and we are worried about a damn t-shirt a child wore really what a joke
Punctuation is your friend.
Please go back to elementary school and learn when to speak, when not to speak and how to form a proper sentence before you criticize anyone.
All you're doing is posting nonsense on boards so everyone can read your nonsense. Where have you been for the past 10 years, under a rock?
Thanks, Mrs English Teacher.
You're welcome. How did you know?
dohara...you are so angry and bitter. check yourself.
lets talk about the way society is it is not about right and wrong let alone ACCOUNTABILITY no its about making deals and greasing the wheel a muderer can get 5 - 7 years yet god forbid i dont have a dog license on my dogs collar which they confiscate my dog cost me thousands to get it back and threaten me with 5 yrs imprisonment please
Well damn, you're not in jail yet?
That was for Jock. He is always complaining about everything.
Paranoid schizophrenia?
I'm not against the shirt and am supportive of everyones rights (sexual preference, religion, political, whatever). I do think the problem is the distraction in a school setting. I am not a fan of a lot of what gets worn in schools. It is one thing to wear it (and that goes for revealing/suggestive/take a stand...shirts of any sort) on your own time. School time is important, and it may be a poor choice to wear at school. I am not saying it should be against rules, I just wish people would make good choices and be considerate of all around.
stonedog was the only one that i see that said it correctly. If the shirt said ALL the cool girls are straight all the gay rights people would go nuts. The biggest problem i have with gay rights is that their rights supercede everyone else's. On top of that I have to agree with it or Im something or other bad. Anymore you are more persecuted if your not gay or dont think its ok. Most of the time they claim your a religious nut, but even if you quoted evolution and not creation or religion or whatever your still a bad guy/girl because you dont agree with time. Wow talk about discrimination and prejudice.
a woman can scream rape of her grandchild to gain custody be granted custody the man accused is acquited sues and gets millions but nothing happens to the grand mother where is the logic. edgar snyder "we dont carge a thing unless we get money for you" this country has mor lawyers than the rest of the world combined and noone see a problem with that
This is just wrong!
HandyMan-3973380
I can not say it enough. These people are sodomites. When did we quit teaching our children the ways of the Bible. Now laws are passed that will allow the abomination of this country. For those of you that support sodomy. The law is written in stone. The word is in the Bible try reading one. Then post your comments. Sad you believe in a politician but not your creator.
People stopped teaching their children the ways of your bible when they realized they were dumb @!$%#s for thinking it was real. When you can bring up rock hard, solid proof of this 'creator' maybe people wouldn't hate it, or you, so much. As for the bible being anything, it's a story book. Every hear the saying "you should never believe everything you read?" The bible is the first book on that list. people like you need to quit teaching the normal children that it's right to hate people for their differences. I believe every single one of you worthless christian freaks needs to move out of America, the free country, and go back to England, where your views are actually worth a penny. time is moving forward, it's time to wipe up your spilled milk, pull on your big girl panties, and get over it. Gays deserve every right the rest of us have. As for the shirt, she should be allowed to wear whatever the hell she wants in public school, so long as it isn't alcohol, drug, or violence related. Shirts like 'The Godfather" and "My pen is bigger than your pen is" Those are the obnoxious types that cause trouble (the godfather is extremely violent in nature, and encourages gangs). I've seen stickers that say things similar to what this shirt says. It's just a phrase. Way to blow it out of proportion useless school district.
You really need to put quotes around things you are quoting.
You are so smart. We are all very proud of you. Now sit down and shut up.
ok so if you wear a steelers shirt to school and i am a denver fan and find it offensive you shouldnt wear it , no matter what the subject I DO NOT think saying "Lesbians ar cool" is worthy of this much attention in any setting really do we not have bigger problems in this country lets see Unemployment, Homeless, missing children, drugs etc oh hell lets be worried that the lesbians might take over god forbid we have a lesbian president. i really didnt think Obama would last this long with out some sort of attemp so why not bring us a lesbian president
Sports and sexual orientation..are completley different. go back to Mars. Your a total idiot!
Like I said:
Paranoid schizophrenia...
All Pooh Eating Monkeys at The Zoo Are Cool Too!
OK, ya got me laughing with that one, thanks. And, I might buy that on a shirt at the zoo.
I don't care about the whole gay thing, but the shirt itself stupid.
I am pro GLAAD and such, but this stuff (and any "our group is best" stuff needs to be worn outside of and not in school).
Heck, even if it said "Lesbian Girls are Cool" it would be so very much less offensive.