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Girl suspend for wearing "barbie is Lesbian" shirt

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  • Girl suspend for wearing "barbie is Lesbian" shirt

    NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A New York teenager alleged on Thursday that teachers violated her civil rights when they suspended her from school for wearing a "Barbie is a Lesbian" T-shirt.

    Lawyers who filed a lawsuit on her behalf in Manhattan federal court said 14-year-old Natalie Young is openly lesbian and that a teacher laughed at her, calling the garment and its reference to the popular Barbie doll "inappropriate."

    Young alleged that the principal held her for three hours in an office at the school in the borough of Queens on April 10, 2002 and refused to allow her to return to class while she wore the T-shirt.

    A spokesman for the city education department, a defendant in the lawsuit, declined immediate comment.

    Young was suspended for the day and the principal threatened to send her home again if she wore the T-shirt to school in future, the lawsuit alleged.

    "Schools cannot legally engage in this type of selective, content-based suppression of speech," lawyer Dan Perez said. "If she had worn a 'Barbie Supports the Troops in the War in Iraq' T-shirt, she would have been called a patriot."

    Perez said that on another school day before the T-shirt incident, teachers made Young remove rainbow colored beads from her hair, although she was not suspended then.

    The lawsuit, which names the education department, school principal and several teachers as defendants, seeks a declaration from the court that Young's constitutional right to free speech was violated. It asks the department to issue guidelines on students' dress and on dealing with students' expression of their sexual orientation.

    The lawsuit, which was filed in the name of the student's mother, Kathleen Hodges, because Young is a minor, also seeks unspecified monetary damages.

    "That is not the most important issue here but if a jury decides to contribute to Natalie's college fund, all the better," Perez said.
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  • #2
    Lol, I'm with the school on this one. Any shirt w/ sexual content should not be allowed in a MS.
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    • #3
      Hey kids, your First Amendment Rights end at the schoolhouse door. I remember back when I was in high school, and they actually wouldn't let students wear the Bart Simpson, Underachiever and Proud of It! T-shirts at my school. We had students wearing t-shirts with such pithy saying as "Down With Pants", but yet it was Bart Simpson who was banned.

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      • #4
        I see these lawsuits as being nothing but frivilous and ridiculous. Rather than sorting out issues in a mature manner as members of a community, people are far to quick to run to lawyers to try and make money out of the situation.

        Seems to me that there are more important things in the world than money.






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        • #5
          I support the girl. I normally hate people who sue others,but the shirt is not inappropriate in any way. I guess if I wore a shirt that said "I have a penis" I'd be inappropriate because the human body is so unnatural
          Schools should start enforcing stuff that matters like verbal and physical bullying, instead of being homophobic pricks.
          Earl From Regina

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Myblock
            I support the girl. I normally hate people who sue others,but the shirt is not inappropriate in any way. I guess if I wore a shirt that said "I have a penis" I'd be inappropriate because the human body is so unnatural
            Schools should start enforcing stuff that matters like verbal and physical bullying, instead of being homophobic pricks.
            Ah, that's where you're wrong. If the shirt said, "Barbie Likes to have sex with Ken," I'm sure whe would have been suspended for that, too. Not everyone is a homophobe....the girl was out of line here, she needs to keep her sexual buisness to herself.
            Fly Raleigh-Durham International, with direct flights on Air Canada, AirTran, American Airlines, American Eagle, America West, Continental Airlines, Continental Express, Delta Airlines, Delta Connection, jetBlue, Northwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Express and US Airways to:

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            • #7
              Look at it this way:

              If the shirt showed Barbie and Ken kissing, no one would have a problem with it. However, If the shirt showed barbie and another barbie kissing "affectionately" the schools would probably suspend her.

              Schools are too quick to shield and protect students from the realities and truths of the world. Aren't schools suppose to open students eyes to cultures, lifestyles and ideas different from the local lifestyle? What were those four years of Social Studies for in Elementary schools. Im not saying schools should celebrate and impose sexual tendencies of people. Rather, have an attitude of acceptance.

              Bottom Line: Schools need to accept but not celebrate/discriminate homosexuality. Whether its public display on cloths, bookbags, or in the halls, etc. No one ever had a problem with girls holding guys hands in the halls, Bobby and Emily written on a desk circled with a heart, a shirt showing a two TV stars of opposite sex kissing, etc.! Whats wrong if its the same thing with Homosexual instead of heterosexual tendencies?

              DeltaASA16

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              • #8
                What's wrong with lesbians? I happen to like them.. The more the merrier!
                "You can run but you'll die tired."
                Semper Fidelis
                United States Marine Corp !

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                • #9
                  They put on a nice show

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                  • #10
                    A fourteen year old lesbian? I mean, sorry, but 14? Jesus, did she make the decision to turn lez after having a shitty relationship with a man at the age of 5?

                    Fourteen seems a bit young
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                    • #11
                      The issue of whether she should have worn that shirt to school or not is IMO separate to the issue of running to a lawyer to try and make money.

                      You will most likely find that this isn't even about her. It will be like that issue with the gay boy a few years back where it was all gay rights groups using him for their own agenda. Offering him a new BMW to get him to speak out etc.

                      There is nothing wrong with being homosexual, but being young and working out your sexuality is hard enough without becomming the victim of some stupid group with their own agenda.

                      If the school doesn't want her to wear the shirt then so be it .. doesn't make her any less homosexual if she should choose to wear a different shirt, but it does make her a more tolerant person to take into consideration the feelings of others.




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                      • #12
                        I'm with the girl on this one (not necessarily the lawsuit, but her right to wear the shirt to school). I'm a high school teacher myself, and would have no problem at all with anyone wearing such a shirt. In fact, there's a girl in one of the classes I teach who regularly wears shirt saying 'Fuck authority' or similar messages. No problem for me. I ignore it. And that's the best reaction. These kids do this to be provocative, in other words, they're LOOKING for a reaction. By screaming bloody murder, like in this case, you're giving the kids what they want.

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                        • #13
                          In my county, the second you walk into the school building you are stripped of any right to free speech. The school guidelines prohibit shirts with sexual content or alcohol on them. That school probably had similiar guidelines and she violated them. It's not because of her sexual preference it's because she broke a rule.

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                          • #14
                            Has Mattel issued a statement yet? I'm curious as to how long it will be until they sue for trademark infringement or whatever.

                            More importantly, I'm really curious as to why Barbie would be considered a lesbian. She seems pretty heterosexual to me. Could it have something to do with her pink jeep?

                            I had the Barbie airplane when I was growing up. I wonder what that means about me ?

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                            • #15
                              I agree with Greg, once you enter the door, the school can do whatever they want. Hell,Girls can even get in trouble for wearing flip-flops now, and a t-shirt that encourages sexual thinking should not be allowed. Also, 14 is a little young to be a lesbo, it's probably just a stage she's going through...
                              Fly Raleigh-Durham International, with direct flights on Air Canada, AirTran, American Airlines, American Eagle, America West, Continental Airlines, Continental Express, Delta Airlines, Delta Connection, jetBlue, Northwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Express and US Airways to:

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