No Straight Talk Allowed

Published Jan 30 2008, 05:53 PM by Wendy Kaminer

By Wendy Kaminer

        Last year, high school senior Heidi Zamecnik sued her school for prohibiting her from wearing a t-shirt expressing her preference for heterosexuality. “BE HAPPY, NOT GAY,” her shirt read. According to the complaint in her case (filed by the Alliance Defense Fund,) the Dean of Students pulled her out of the lunchroom, complained that the message on her shirt was offensive, and prohibited her from wearing it in school. A female guidance counselor blacked out the words “NOT GAY,” and Heidi returned to classes wearing a t-shirt that read “BE HAPPY.”

        But it’s hard to be happy when your fundamental rights are violated. The suppression of Heidi’s pro-heterosexuality message must have been particularly galling since it followed an official Day of Silence, devoted to expressing pro-gay sentiments and support for gay and lesbian students. Heidi whose opposition to the “homosexual lifestyle” is based on her religious beliefs, was offended by the messages conveyed by other students (and the school) on the Day of Silence, but, according to her complaint, “understood that students have a right to share their viewpoints on this and other issues.”

        You might expect a federal court to agree with this simple proposition, but the court in Heidi’s case ruled instead that she had no such right to share her views. Her school had a “legitimate interest in protecting gay students . .. from being harmed, both physically and psychologically,” the Court held. The school also had a “legitimate pedagogical interest” in promoting “tolerance and respect for differences among students,” although apparently this interest did not require it to tolerate or respect Heidi’s different views. Indeed, by suppressing Heidi’s speech, the school made clear that it was interested in promoting only one homogenous point of view, not many different ones.

        The illogic that justifies censorship in the name of tolerance is familiar enough: it’s the underlying illogic of PC.   Equally familiar is the patronizing assertion that gay and lesbian students are apt to be psychologically harmed by the mere sight of t-shirts with messages like “BE HAPPY, NOT GAY.” I hope that at least some students have the confidence and self-respect to be offended by assumptions about their psychological fragility and unfitness for the rough and tumble of a free society.

        Heidi Zamecnik has graduated, but her claims are being pursued by Alexander Nuxoll, a sophomore at her former school. The Alliance Defense Fund recently won an expedited appeal to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, based on Alexander’s desire to wear a t-shirt proclaiming his views on homosexuality in time for the Day of Silence in April 2008. Meanwhile, a similar case is still pending in the 9th Circuit: In 2006, in a depressingly familiar example of liberal anti-libertarianism, the 9th circuit held that students may be barred from wearing t-shirts with anti-gay messages in schools that encourage students to wear shirts with pro-gay messages. (The Supreme Court vacated that decision on procedural grounds, so there is still no definitive ruling on the merits.)

        Expect to see more cases like this. Nationwide, schools are participating in the Day of Silence to support gay and lesbian students, and the Alliance Defense Fund is countering with a Day of Truth to promote Christian opposition to “the homosexual agenda in schools.” Additional test cases are bound to arise, given the penchant of school administrators to censor viewpoints they find offensive. ADF seems eager to bring one of these cases before the Supreme Court, and I hope it succeeds. The Court is no friend to student speech rights, but given its current composition, I bet that a majority would sympathize with students seeking the right to air their religious beliefs about sexual orientation – a right that any self-respecting civil libertarian should defend.

Filed Under: education, First Amendment, free speech, political correctness

William & Mary "Gets It"

Back to Free For All

1 Comments

jerry said:

Meanwhile, in Florida, the ACLU fights for the rights of a student to put a rainbow sticker on her notebook.

<a href="www.wftv.com/.../detail.html">ACLU Sues Panhandle School Over Rainbow Stickers On Notebooks</a>

PONCE DE LEON, Fla. -- The American Civil Liberties Union claims a Florida Panhandle school kept students from having rainbow stickers on their notebooks, suppressing their right to free speech.



A lawsuit against Ponce de Leon High School was filed Thursday in federal court.



A message was left with the school's administration.



The ACLU says the school told them any form of expression in support for gay rights would "likely be disruptive." It also claims the school board's attorney said a rainbow sticker could mean students are members of an "illegal organization."



In the complaint, the ACLU asks the court for an injunction to stop the school from further suppressing the First Amendment rights of the students.

I still have a lot of respect for the ACLU and I realize these cases are in different states. It would be nice to see the Illinois chapter of the ACLU fight for Heidi's rights.

February 1, 2008 2:41 AM

Follow the Boston Phoenix

All Blogs

On The Download (2,174)
Dont Quote Me (525)
Talking Politics (1,529)
Outside The Frame (307)
Phlog (1,430)
Laser Orgy (35)

Filed Under: education, First Amendment, free speech, political correctness

Boston Phoenix
Review: The House of the Devil
Published 12/4/2009 by BRETT MICHEL
The '80s revival hits the horror genre

Boston Phoenix
Youth to power
Published 11/27/2009 by DEIRDRE FULTON
Going Green

more by Wendy Kaminer

Second Lady | August 30, 2008

Hillary's Harpies | August 27, 2008

No We Can't | July 10, 2008

Anti-Noose Laws | May 19, 2008

It's a Crime to Lie to MYSpace? | May 16, 2008

See all articles by: Wendy Kaminer

Latest Comments

City Council Forums - Наш сайт - самый легкий и быстрый способ найти партнера, имеющего схожие с вашими сексуальные предпочтения...

By Merbactibrape on 12-04-2009 in Talking Politics

Totten trial chairwoman: the fix wasn't in - Hi !. You re, I guess , probably curious to know how one can make real money . There is no initial capital...

By EpirummomoHug on 12-04-2009 in Dont Quote Me

Recommended reading: Charlie Pierce on Tiger Woods - Mike Hunt's Q&A Session: Q: What is only way Tiger will get thru this? A: Tiger will have to go on...

By Mike Hunt on 12-03-2009 in Dont Quote Me

Confirmation Of Contradiction - If Coakley's poll was a smaller margin, but still bigger than what Capuano's poll is seeing it would...

By This guy on 12-03-2009 in Talking Politics

Recommended reading: Charlie Pierce on Tiger Woods - @ Mike Harter: Mike, Charlie's point is that USGA bows daily at the altar of El Tigre, the man-child...

By Mike Saunders on 12-03-2009 in Dont Quote Me

Latest Comments from Free For All

No Straight Talk Allowed

1 Comments

jerry said:

Leave a Comment