ACLU: School Wrong to Ban Anti-Gay Shirt

The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday said a Connecticut high school violated a student's rights to free expression by asking him to remove a T-shirt with an anti-gay message.

Seth Groody, a junior at Wolcott High School, wore the shirt bearing a rainbow with a slash through it on April 20, which had been designated by the school as a day of awareness of harassment toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. The other side showed two stick figures — a male and a female — holding hands above the message "Excessive Speech Day," according to the ACLU of Connecticut.

The group said that the student told them he removed the shirt under protest on school officials' orders.

In a letter to principal Joseph Monroe, the ACLU said the school violated the student's First Amendment rights. It asked for assurances from school officials that students will be allowed to wear clothing with similar messages.

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Wildman

For once I agree wih te ACLU. Freedom of speach runs both ways.
- Deep_Thinker
  
  Finally, some consistency!
  - Linda F.
    
    I know! I feel like I've just stepped into the Twilight Zone.
- Pat Supak
  
  I agree! Thank you, ACLU!!
- mesaman
  
  This is the ACLU's token righteous stance for this year. Watch for a recurrence sometime in 2013.
- Everymyrtle
  
  Where was the ACLU when the children had to go home and change out of the shirt with the American flag, or when they wore a shirt with he word Christmas. I did not heart a word out of them about that.? This shows that the ACLU is part of the bringing down freedom in America. imposing rules on certain groups that do not apply to other groups. Talk about hypocrisy!!! It cannot get any worse when these unfair measures are applied to children.
- keyboardshark
  
  Yes, it was a good decision by the ACLU to oppose this, but if you look at their track record overall, it's pretty dismal when it comes to standing up for Christians or conservatives. It appears that their strategy is to selectively support a tiny minority of cases where a Christian or conservative is involved, and ignore the rest, while wholeheartedly attacking anyone who opposes liberal/gay/atheist causes.
  
  That way, when someone (rightly) accuses them of bias, they can point to the 1% or so of cases (like this one) where they actually did support freedom of speech for Christians or conservatives, and say, "Waddaya mean, here's 5 or 6 instances where we DID stand up for freedom of speech for Christians/conservatives." It then appears to the poorly informed general populace that they are not biased after all because of this token amount of Christian/conservative cases that they have supported, which in reality is a very small percentage of the total.
Gary

Good for the ACLU.
Sharon

Well done ACLU!!!
Dave

The only reason the ACLU protested is because they want the same consideration when they spew their rhetoric. The ACLU is out to control everything and everyone that does not agree with their homophobic adjenda. The AARP is also in bed with the ACLU.
- Deep_Thinker
  
  The ACLU is standing up for the rights of those who are against its own agenda..
  
  Read the article before posting such nonsense.
- MSGT JOHN CORREA
  
  Dave, you are absolutely correct. Only a few in America are fully aware that the ACLU is a communist organization, and yes, their goal is to dominate individual lives in America. Long before AARP was exposed as a socialists, I had already dumped them. They got my message when they finally stopped sending me their socialist magazine.
  
  Anytime anyone attempts to change the course set by our Founding Fathers, they expose themselves as Marxists.
  
  MSGT JOHN CORREA
  USAF (RET)
  - MSGT JOHN CORREA
    
    What are you afraid of??? Post my patriotic reply!
    
    MSGT JOHN CORREA
    USAF (RET)
  - msjallen
    
    No, John, this site does not accept the word "soci – al- ists" because part of it has to do with a drug. It took the AARP a long time to stop sending me their literature once I did not sign up again even when I sent them a NO in big letters on the inside of their return mail envelope. They sure wasted a lot of money on mailing and having to pay for return mail.
- DavidE
  
  You hit the nail on the head, Dave. The ACLU and AARP are sooo far left they cannot see the forrest due to the trees. Maybe they have hidden desires to become a HOMO.
Byron

To each their own beliefs, right or wrong.
Stephen

This only makes the third time in my life I have agreed with the ACLU. However, if they were destroyed tomorrow morning, no love lost that's for sure!
NavyBugchaser

Sometimes the ACLU does something that takes one by surprise. Normally, you would expect them to support the gays against the wearing of an "anti-gay" T-shirt. This is one of the very rare times that I applaud the ACLU action, but as a whole I think the organization is very evil and anti-Christian, anti-American, anti-moral, and anti-conservative.
- Lisa
  
  Amen!!
- Linda F.
  
  I agree, NavyBugchaser. I was just as surprised as you were by the ACLU's stance in regards to this issue. I have to say, though, that I'm very skeptical about their motives.
http://www.sargee5.blogspot.com The Watchman

Once or so a year, the ACLU does something that makes you think they can be fair. I wouldn't hold my breath for the same thing to occur anytime soon.
Rooster

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then.
Ken

Even a clock is right twice a day.
- lambsev11
  
  a BROKEN CLOCK
Nancy Sternberg

Shocking!
Charles H.

It is hard for me to believe that the Atheist Criminal Liars Union (ACLU) has anything good to say about anything! I am suspicious,what is the catch?
- keyboardshark
  
  The catch is that they come out in favor of Christians or conservatives a tiny minority of the time as a smokescreen to hide the vast majority of cases where they support homosexual, atheist and liberal causes by the dozens.
  - Evermyrte
    
    AMEN!!!!
http://aol.com Ed in Florida

Is is illegal to wear a shirt that is perceived to be anti-Democrat or anti-Republican. Why is it wrong to express your beliefs? The gays do it all the time and no one is banning their T-shirts. God said that the day will come when good will be bad and bad will be good. See it yet?
Green

If the ACLU thinks it is alright to have their message on T-shirts students wear to school, why can't the students wear t-shirts with Bible verses on them? It goes both ways, so don't complain when things don't go your way!
jean

Funny, I actually had to read it twice to believe it.
RevRMBWest

I do not think that schools should be the place to promote the sodomite/effeminate or Lesbian agenda and so there should not be a need to wear a contrary tea-shirt. Schools should be about education, not about this kind of thing from either side.
Winston

The article must first define which ACLU is operating in this situation. Is it "Always Causing Legal Confusion" or "Adventurous Cowboys Living Underwater (Prairie Home Companion)", or is it "American Civil Liberties Union"? Personally, American lives in general would be better served if ALL unions were banned and eradicated from our lives. They've mostly become a fund-raising arm of the socialist, liberal progressive, Marxist, communist political action group called Democrats. Then they're nothing less than arrogant thugs forcing ignorance through the public education monopoly – perpetually. Keep homosexuality in the closet instead of pushing it upon innocent children in the schools.
aceituna

May organizations have started out with good intensions and going a good way , but have been derailed somewhere along the way and become dangerous to our wellbeing. The comments have pointed out two types of these organizations which have done this, the ACLU and Unions.
- Robert Wayne
  
  The ACLU was never good though. They were a front organization for the communists in this country. I will admit though, that once in a great while they're right….like in the case of the kid with the anti-homosexual t-shirt. But those incidences are few and far between.
Wayne

Seth, I think I speak for many when I say, "We Are Proud of Your Character and Integrity". We should never be afraid of applying our free speech rights to express our reasoned position concerning political, ethical, or moral issues. Politically Correct speech awareness needs to be rebuked and free speech returned to our land.
DavidE

As far as I am concerned the ACLU thrives on greed and evil. They are just a self serving bunch of the devil's deciples.