In other words kid, take the freakin shirt off. I’m the principal and you’re the student. You don’t like it, you’re suspended. And guess what? - when you grow up and get a job, you’re boss is going to tell you what you can and cannot wear too as well as other rules you might not want to follow.

I happen to be a strong liberal - freedom of speech and all that - but c’mon. If Mr. Harper felt so strongly about the gay rights event, maybe he should have formed his own alliance and staged an event with the opposing message. If the school did not allow such an event, maybe that would have been the time to file his first amendment lawsuit. He might have had a better chance of winning. Too bad his parents didn’t give him this advice - but then again - they’re probably the ones that taught him his intolerance of others.

I admire the administrators at this school and wish that they had been in charge at my daughter’s school in the days after Columbine. A forum was held to address the concerns of the parents and students. I attended because my daughter had expressed nervousness about a group of students who wore trenchcoats to school every day (and continued to after the tragedy). I asked the superintendant if it was wise to allow this to continue. I kind of figured that maybe he would take the kids’ concerns into consideration since the purpose of the forum was to take the kids’ concerns into consideration. His reply - he couldn’t violate their rights and their freedom to express themselves. I suggested that maybe my daughter could wear her bikini to school. Reply - that would be a distraction. Go figure!

Here’s a lovely statement written by Col.Robert G. Ingersoll ( the great agnostic)—,.” the church has been a skeleton at the banquet of life”….Isn’t that neet?

Unless I’ve been posting to the wrong one, too??? Nobody has commented on them, so I wonder…

I agree that a lot of people still see homophobia as “ambiguous,” when they see racism as absolutely wrong. I got the impression the 9th Circuit decision refused to accept any ambiguity on the matter. No racist T-shirts, no anti-gay T-shirts.

When the kids get to college, though, all bets are off. Frats are notorious for creating T-shirts with images and slogans that are insulting to women, African Americans, gays, computer science majors, Democrats, you name it.

So sorry.

That said, who knows how serious he was or whether or not he was on a crazy rant like everyone’s been known to go on. I’ve been quoted many a time that if certain things would go on in this country, I’d take one for the team and head to the White House myself with a sawed off shotgun. Then again, it’s pretty obvious I am joking and/or totally not going to shoot the president, much less anyone else. With Buddhi, after seeing the message, it just wasn’t that obvious.

I’ll keep looking to see if I can reproduce the image.

Not anywhere I’ve ever worked.

I think Erin took the wind out of my sails somewhat by asking the question which I planned to ask….What if we , just for the sake of this discussion , replace the words on Tyler’s shirt with words of racism instead of just plain homophobia?Then would it be ok?

In my high school(after private school with the “no pants rule,grrrrr), as I recall, we were not allowed to wear any shirts with words printed on them except for school logo.I couldn’t wear a Led zepplin tee shirt , so I was not pleased by it..in my day no one wanted to wear shirts that were about hate, how sad we have reached that day now…at a time when we claim we are such a “christian society”….how educational this situation is indeed.

This brings up the story of fred phelps “church” from kansas.This error in breeding sends his group to the funerals of our local troops to stand outside with signs that say”God hates fags” … their claim, as they shout at the parents and wives of our dead troops trying to bury their loved one, is that they are dead because God is punishing America for “tolerating” homosexuals…

These people claim a first amendment right to stand outside of funerals of our troops and yell terrible things at the greiving families, like:” You deserved to have your son killed , it’s your fault for tolerating homosexuals in America !” …last week one accused the mother of a dead troop of “flipping off God” and “having the nerve to cry about it when God punished her family”…….
Gov.Vilsak, a dem, who was in Iraq, was forced to sign a bill make it illegal to protest at funerals…Still they came,, they were met by the “patriot riders” a ever growing group a big burly biker dudes, who stand in front of the protestors and shield them from the families view(who also could have been arrested IMHO under the bill vilsak signed)….
Phelps group was on the 5 oclock news, saying they planned to challenge the bill in court, they stood down the street from the funeral holding their “God hates fags” sign Swearing Bush’s court would deliver them….

I was told by a judge, as a minor I didn’t have rights.I couldn’t petition the court without an adult..I wonder if these kids are not being used as pawns in their parents “culture war”…

And one more thing..aren’t parents suppose to be raising kids who learn to fit in to society?There are going to be all kinds of different people these kids encounter in adulthood and some they just won’t ever like,and they have to learn to live in this world beside them..they are not bush, regime change is not an option..how are they learning to get along in the world ?

Take this all one step further…would it be ok for “grown ups” to wear this shirt in their workplace?My shirt would still be boring by todays standard,,, all I hate is liver and peas.