Year: 2008

T-shirt case decided: “Be happy, not gay” allowed in school

We may see more of these t-shirts around on Monday since the

7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals instructed the district court to order the Neuqua Valley High School to suspend its ban on the “Be Happy, Not Gay” T-shirt while a civil rights lawsuit in the case proceeds.

Given the ingenuity of adolescents, we will see this envelope pushed further and further (“Be smart, not Christian” is sure to come).

I have seen this issue less of a free-speech matter (you can go outside and say, “Be happy, not gay” and no one will arrest you), but how much school administrators can limit speech in the service of school order. I have not seen this as a religious free speech issue since there is nothing inherently religious about that t-shirt. I think schools will have more of these kind of issues to adjudicate and some may just throw up their hands and let anything in. Some will perhaps let nothing in. I don’t know but as much as I am a defender of free speech and religious liberty, I am not happy about this outcome. I figured the court might decide that the boy had a right to wear the shirt, but I do not believe it would be right to wear it.

I think our Golden Rulers should keep passing out the cards on Monday.

Day of Silence legal tips; you do and don’t have the right to remain silent

It is rare that I would quote the ACLU, but I thought that this list of tips from them on the Day of Silence and related matters looked fair.

1. You DO have a right to participate in Day of Silence and other expressions of your opinion at a public school during non-instructional time: the breaks between classes, before and after the school day, lunchtime, and any other free times during your day. If your principal or a teacher tells you otherwise, you should contact the ACLU national office or GLSEN (Benny Vasquez [email protected], 646-388-8055).

2. You do NOT have a right to remain silent during class time if a teacher asks you to speak. If you want to stay quiet during class on Day of Silence, we recommend that you talk to your teachers ahead of time, tell them what you plan to do, and ask them if it would be okay for you to communicate on that day in writing. Most teachers will probably say yes.

3. Your school is NOT required to “sponsor” Day of Silence. A lot of schools this year are announcing that they aren’t sponsoring Day of Silence due to pressure from national anti-gay groups. But Day of Silence is rarely a school-sponsored activity to begin with — it’s almost always an activity led by students. So don’t be confused — just because your school is saying that the school won’t officially sponsor or participate in Day of Silence doesn’t mean that it’s saying you can’t participate.

4. Students who oppose Day of Silence DO have the right to express their views, too. Like you, they must do so in a civil, peaceful way and they must limit their expression to non-instructional time. They do NOT have a right to skip school on Day of Silence without any consequences, just as you don’t have a right to skip school just because you don’t like what they think or say.

Those who say the DOS is a disruptive activity may not realize that the organizers communicate this to the participants. I was not aware of it either. I do not think this is widely known.

Golden Rule Pledge update

I know of 19 schools who are pledging the Golden Rule Pledge on or around the Day of Silence. One Campus Crusade group at Slippery Rock University met with a gay support group on campus recently to offer assistance with the Day of Silence observance. Many CRU students will remain silent and distribute cards with the Day of Silence message on one side and the Golden Rule Pledge on the other. I hope to have a link to a more complete list of schools soon.