The American
Civil Liberties Union is suing a high school in Florida,
saying it fosters an atmosphere of fear and censorship
against students sporting gay rights paraphernalia.
Administrators at Ponce de Leon High School stated
that wearing rainbow stickers could identify students
as members of an illegal organization.
"All any of us
wants to do is be able to talk about gay rights issues
without having to be scared," said 16-year-old student
Heather Gillman in a press release. "Nobody should
have to worry about being kicked out of school just
for having a rainbow sticker on your notebook."
The ACLU sent a
letter to the school on behalf of Gillman asking whether
a variety of symbols and slogans, such as the rainbow flag
or "I support my gay friends," would be allowed. The
school district replied that it would not allow any
expressions for gay rights because the speech would be
disruptive and students could interpret stickers and
other paraphernalia as symbols of gangs or a
"secret/illegal organization."
An unidentified
student was suspended for five days for expressing her
support for gay rights. Students said that a lesbian peer
was harassed and tried to report the situation to
administrators. She was instead greeted with
censorship when they forbade students to
write "gay pride" on their arms and notebooks in
solidarity.
"Writing
something like 'I support gay rights' on your
notebook doesn't mean you're part of some secret
conspiracy or shadowy organization," said Christine
Sun, a staff attorney with the ACLU's national Lesbian
Gay Bisexual Transgender Project. "Schools shouldn't
be in the business of trying to frighten students into
silence." (The Advocate)
