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Judge rules for straight student friend of gays in freedom of expression case

May 14th, 2008
By JOE WINDISH, Technology Editor

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Ande @ Toweroad has the good news:

United States District Court Richard Smoak ruled in favor of high school student Heather Gillman yesterday in a suit she and the ACLU brought against her school’s principal and the Holmes County School Board. Gillman claimed that her First Amendment rights were violated when the school forbid her from wearing clothing or displaying stickers supporting tolerance and fair treatment of LGBT people.

Via the ACLU: “During the trial, which was held in Panama City yesterday and today, Ponce de Leon High School’s principal David Davis admitted under oath that he had banned students from wearing any clothing or symbols supporting equal rights for gay people. Davis also testified that he believed rainbows were “sexually suggestive” and would make students unable to study because they’d be picturing gay sex acts in their mind. The principal went on to admit that while censoring rainbows and gay pride messages he allowed students to wear other symbols many find controversial, such as the Confederate flag.”

Said Gillman, who is not gay: “Standing up to my school was really hard to do, but I’m so happy that I did because the First Amendment is a big deal to everyone.”

Clickthrough for additional links and video.



This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 6:23 pm and is filed under Homosexuality, Legal Matters, Moral Values, Florida, Civil Liberties, Homophobia, Law & Legal Matters, Society, Freedom of Speech, GLBT Issues, Education. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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