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High-school students suspended for wearing anti-gay T-shirts
Submitted by administrator on Thu, 04/19/2007 - 14:07.
By LAUREL ROSENHALL
Thursday, April 19, 2007
A handful of students were suspended from a high school here for refusing to take off anti-gay T-shirts that administrators said were inappropriate.
The shirts, which the students wore in protest of the Day of Silence, said "Sodomy is sin" and quoted a Bible passage about homosexuality.
Phil Spears, interim principal of Rio Linda High School, said the shirts violated the school's dress code. Students were asked to take them off, he said, and were suspended if they disobeyed the request.
"They're offensive to some people and disruptive to school," he said. "Kids are going to react to these."
And that they did.
Protests were not nearly as large or inflammatory Wednesday as at other schools last year. Some of the suspended students and their supporters staged an after-school protest outside Rio Linda High. They held signs saying, "School censors Bible," "School bans free speech" and "Don't silence Christians."
They were met by another group of students wearing shirts that said "Day of Silence." Some of them described themselves as lesbians, others said they wore the shirts in support of gay friends or family members.
"The Day of Silence is about stopping gay bashing," said Brittinnie McHenry, a Rio Linda freshman. "Imagine all those people who are silenced because they got bashed or killed."
The Day of Silence is a national day of campus activism organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. For the last 11 years, participating students take a daylong vow of silence to raise awareness of the harassment and bullying that many gay teens face.
Protesters say the Day of Silence promotes a gay agenda in the public schools. They say they should be entitled to counter it by promoting a Christian message. Peter Ganchenko of the Tree of Life church said scores of Sacramento-area students wore the "Sodomy is sin" T-shirts to school on Wednesday.
WOAH
i am a full christian,but i am not wearing those "Sodomy is sin" shirts cause i mean i also learned to not not judge people! I am okay about it as long as it has nothin to do with me in it!i mean i am not part of it but i still have friends that are like that.I really think if christians thought this out more,they wouldnt of done that they would of at least prayed for them if they think its that wrong like i do.but i mean all that did was make people go wild and make them think about shooting other people.So it really didnt help at all,it only made students at rio linda high go beyond their minds and have more drama in their studying hours.
Judging isnt needed in this world.But somehow we christians seem to have it alot in some ways,however nobody is perfect.I love god deeply but i am not going to be mean to those who dont think like me,unless it concerns me in it.
Gay bashing, why is the world still like this?
I'm from a catholic background and I have friends and family that are gay. I agree if I wore a t-shirt like this back in my days I might get a beating for just supporting them. It depends in what cultural environment you are in and at what event it is worn at that it can cause problems. People need to have a broader understanding about the gay community. I don't see anything wrong with the gay community, people are the most delightful people of all and I feel sorry for some of the people who are still in their closet as some of their families won't accept the way that they are. The world is changing and we need to learn to accept and understand their way of living. Being gay does not cause a world war and to day they haven't gone out and caused millions of deaths. Being gay is just an expression of who they are. Expression should not be restricted. We have a freedom of speech and what human have the right to say gays are not accepted? Students are not experienced in being around gay people. They lack understanding and knowledge. Students should be taught about the gay community and this should reduce the nonacceptance in their community. School is a place where they need to provide information and understanding. Being GAY should not be seen as a sin, God created these people and why can't we learn from it?
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