Post by sushi on Apr 24, 2008 7:39:01 GMT -5
Judge: Teen can wear anti-gay T-shirt
April 23, 2008Recommend
Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
The third time was the charm for a Neuqua Valley High School student who wants to express his sentiments on homosexuality by wearing a “Be Happy, Not Gay” T-shirt to class.
Neuqua sophomore Alex Nuxoll had twice filed for an injunction that would suspend “the school’s policy that allows speech in favor of homosexual conduct, but bans speech critical of homosexual conduct,” according to his attorneys at the Alliance Defense Fund.
And twice courts had denied that request.
But on Wednesday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit reversed the lower courts’ rulings against Nuxoll, saying the district court must order Neuqua to suspend its ban on the shirt while the civil rights lawsuit filed by Nuxoll and Neuqua grad Heidi Zamecnik proceeds.
“We cannot accept the defendants’ argument that the rule is valid because all it does is protect the ‘rights’ of the students against whom derogatory comments are directed,” states the court’s opinion, authored by Judge Richard Posner. “Of course a school can – often it must – protect students from the invasion of their legal rights by other students. But people do not have a legal right to prevent criticism of their beliefs or for that matter their way of life.”
The court’s ruling comes two days before the annual Day of Silence, during which students are allowed to choose not to talk throughout the school day unless doing so interferes with their grades. Sponsored by the school’s Gay/Straight Alliance, the day is intended to “echo” the silence that students who are gay face all the time. During the Day of Silence, students often wear written messages on shirts, buttons and stickers showing their support of peers who are gay.
The case arose two years ago, when Zamecnik, then a junior at Neuqua, decided to wear her own, homemade T-shirt expressing her sentiments on homosexuality. She wore it the day after the Day of Silence, which some call the Day of Truth. The shirt said “My Day of Silence, Straight Alliance” on the front and “Be Happy, Not Gay” on the back. According to the federal lawsuit Zamecnik filed against Indian Prairie District 204 board and various district and school administrators, she was told she had to remove the shirt or leave school because some students and staff found it offensive.
April 23, 2008Recommend
Tim Waldorf twaldorf@scn1.com
The third time was the charm for a Neuqua Valley High School student who wants to express his sentiments on homosexuality by wearing a “Be Happy, Not Gay” T-shirt to class.
Neuqua sophomore Alex Nuxoll had twice filed for an injunction that would suspend “the school’s policy that allows speech in favor of homosexual conduct, but bans speech critical of homosexual conduct,” according to his attorneys at the Alliance Defense Fund.
And twice courts had denied that request.
But on Wednesday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit reversed the lower courts’ rulings against Nuxoll, saying the district court must order Neuqua to suspend its ban on the shirt while the civil rights lawsuit filed by Nuxoll and Neuqua grad Heidi Zamecnik proceeds.
“We cannot accept the defendants’ argument that the rule is valid because all it does is protect the ‘rights’ of the students against whom derogatory comments are directed,” states the court’s opinion, authored by Judge Richard Posner. “Of course a school can – often it must – protect students from the invasion of their legal rights by other students. But people do not have a legal right to prevent criticism of their beliefs or for that matter their way of life.”
The court’s ruling comes two days before the annual Day of Silence, during which students are allowed to choose not to talk throughout the school day unless doing so interferes with their grades. Sponsored by the school’s Gay/Straight Alliance, the day is intended to “echo” the silence that students who are gay face all the time. During the Day of Silence, students often wear written messages on shirts, buttons and stickers showing their support of peers who are gay.
The case arose two years ago, when Zamecnik, then a junior at Neuqua, decided to wear her own, homemade T-shirt expressing her sentiments on homosexuality. She wore it the day after the Day of Silence, which some call the Day of Truth. The shirt said “My Day of Silence, Straight Alliance” on the front and “Be Happy, Not Gay” on the back. According to the federal lawsuit Zamecnik filed against Indian Prairie District 204 board and various district and school administrators, she was told she had to remove the shirt or leave school because some students and staff found it offensive.