A Massachusetts high school student has
been reprimanded for wearing a t-shirt which read “All the Cool
Girls are Lesbians.”
According to The
Item,
the unnamed girl was told by a Lynn English High School official to
cover up her shirt and not wear it to school again.
The incident set off a debate during a
Lynn School Committee meeting held on Thursday.
Lynn Mayor and School Committee
Chairwoman Judith Flanagan Kennedy introduced the issue, saying the
student had notified her of the incident.
“I believe if the student wanted to
make a big fuss she could,” Kennedy told panel members. “I did
some legal research on this and I believe she is right. I don't
believe the school had the authority to ask her to cover it up.”
Kennedy said the school's dress code
does not specify gender issues.
In her letter to Kennedy, the student
said Vice Principal Joseph O'Hagan told her the shirt was
inappropriate because it is “political and offensive to some
people.”
“Well, frankly I'm the one who feels
offended,” the girl wrote. “The word lesbian is not
inappropriate. Saying it is, is calling homosexuality
inappropriate.”
Committee member Charlie Gallo agreed:
“If the shirt said, 'All cool kids are Celtic fans, we wouldn't be
here.”
However, several members on the panel
called the t-shirt “disruptive.”