Chris Sigler claims he was harassed by
his high school principal over wearing a t-shirt in support of a
gay-straight club.
Sigler, a 17-year-old senior at
Sequoyah High School in Madisonville, Tennessee, has alleged that his
principal shoved and verbally harassed him last week for wearing a
t-shirt in support of efforts to establish a Gay-Straight Alliance
(GSA) club at the school.
Sigler's homemade t-shirt read “GSA:
We've Got Your Back.”
The openly straight Sigler told his
family that he wanted to start the club to provide support for gay
students who are at greater risk than heterosexual teens of
committing suicide.
“I don't want to go to a funeral of
any friend,” he told his mother, Linda Sigler.
In a letter written by the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee, the group reminded the
school district that Sigler enjoys free speech and free expression
rights under the First Amendment, and threatened to sue the school
district.
“We demand that Monroe County Schools
state in writing by Tuesday, October 11, 2011 that it will permit any
Sequoyah High School student to wear clothing or accessories that
peacefully express an opinion regarding the proposed Gay-Straight
Alliance free from threats of discipline or physical intimidation or
assault,” the
ACLU wrote.
“All I want is to have a GSA at my
school to help stop the bullying against gays and lesbians and their
friends who support them,” Sigler said. “The shirt was a way to
use my voice and show my support for the club. The way I was treated
shows even more why we need a GSA here.”