Lesbian Pupil's Mom Sues City

[Pookie]

Lesbian Pupil's Mom Sues City

Jun 19, 2003

By Pete Bowles
Staff Writer


The mother of a gay student who was once suspended when she wore a "Barbie is a Lesbian" T-shirt to school filed a civil rights lawsuit Thursday against the city and its Department of Education.

Kathleen Hodges of Richmond Hill complained that her daughter, Natalie Young, now 14, was "deprived of her liberty, deprived of her right to express herself and suffered emotional and psychological injury" while a student at MS 210 in Ozone Park.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, alleges that the Education Department failed to protect Natalie and seeks unspecified monetary damages and a court order forcing the school system to establish policies allowing students to wear symbols "expressing gay and lesbian identity and pride."

Kate O'Brien Ahlers, a spokeswoman for the city's Law Department, said city attorneys had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.

In an interview, Hodges said her daughter — whom she calls Nicky — suffered humiliation and harassment by schoolmates and staff at MS 210 because of her gay lifestyle but is now "very accepted and able to be herself" as a ninth grader at John Adams High School in Ozone Park.

Hodges said her daughter's experience at the middle school was very unpleasant. "She couldn't deal with it. She was very unhappy, almost like she was in a shell."

The suit alleges that Natalie, then 13, wore the T-shirt to school on April 10, 2002, to express her identity as a lesbian. As a result, the suit charged, a teacher laughed at her in front of other students and the principal pulled her out of class and held her in his office for three hours.

Hodges said the principal suspended her daughter from school for the rest of the day and "told her that if she returned the next day with the shirt she would be suspended." The girl has not worn the shirt to school again, she said.

http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2003-06/8272490.jpg

Discuss ... or not.

Edited to add - Source: http://www.nynewsday.com/news/educa...***7468.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-education

 

[lobito]

schools have clothing policies, perhaps wearing that shirt violated that policy?

There's right & wrong, and then there's ignorance of the law or rules. You don't have a right to wear what you want to school, no matter what your sexual identity.

 

[DarkLadyOfDeath]

Ver true but what about teh harassment from he teacher and classmates?... granted we'v all ahd our share of harassment in school... no matterwhat our sexuality. Kids are cruel... BUt a teacher?.. a mentor?.. yeah nobodys perfect. But to encourge young kids most of which don't understand sex and sexuality to really undrstand the fll implications... what happens when they grow up takeing the teachers lead?.

But in all truth. they don't give enough information in the articale 'r whatnot to really let us understand whats going on..

meh there I go babblin' again..

 

[ReBeLBeLLe]

Most of the schools here where I live do have a clothing policy. In it's simplest terms, only T-shirts with a professional logo may be worn to school. Under this policy, the girl would have been suspended here unless the T-shirt included the Mattel logo.

 

[SweetCherry]

Going with the school's regulations on what clothing is allowed, I can see if she was sent home for the day or told to cover hre shirt. If it were against the dress code, it's against the dress code. The teacher, however, had no right to harass the child. That was just plain wrong. At 13, emotional stress from day to day life is bad enough. To have the teacher behaving in such a juvenile and assenine fashion and in turn, setting a bad example for the students, was just plain cruel.

 

[MissTaken]

I have to agree.

Most schools seem to have a dress code and for many in this area, that shirt would have violated it.

Kids will be kids, but a teacher? Of course, at this point, there is only the mother's statement to go on. Who knows what the truth is?

However, her wanting the school to establish policies for youth to wear lesbian/gay pride clothing at school?

What do you think?

Should it be allowed?

I believe it could and should be allowed within the parameters of all other dress codes. On the other hand, there is never any guarentee of tolerance or enlightment just because one makes a statement.

So, allowing a child to wear such gay pride clothing, could actually set the child up for more harm, than good.

 

[Pookie]

Going with the school's regulations on what clothing is allowed, I can see if she was sent home for the day or told to cover hre shirt. If it were against the dress code, it's against the dress code. The teacher, however, had no right to harass the child. That was just plain wrong. At 13, emotional stress from day to day life is bad enough. To have the teacher behaving in such a juvenile and assenine fashion and in turn, setting a bad example for the students, was just plain cruel.

I agree. What the teacher did was so inexcusable. I think that will be the strongest part of the lawsuit. It will be very difficult for her mom to win on the dress code issue itself. The courts have been pretty lenient to schools as far as regulating dress.

Putting aside the issue of the child's sexuality, it's just so sad that a teacher wouldn't think about the harm it would cause any child to be laughed at and ridiculed by her own teacher.

 

[sexy-girl]

this was posted on the general board also but i didn't read the fall news story then

i think she has every right to sue ... the school handled it terribly ... to take her directly out of class and for the teacher to laugh at her infront of the other students ... and then be held in the principals office for 3 hours resulting in suspending her for that day sends an awful bad signal to her fellow students


i really doubt that another student wearing an item that was against the school dress code would of been treated like that

all that was needed was a quiet word to her and maybe her parent but the school humiliating her like this it was breaking her basic rights in my opinion

 

[MzChrista]

If the shirt said Barbie eats Pussy or something like that, OK.
But a shirt saying barbie is a Lesbian is making a sort of a political point. I dont see no footnotes on the first amendment.

 

[James G 5]

If the shirt said Barbie eats Pussy or something like that, OK.
But a shirt saying barbie is a Lesbian is making a sort of a political point. I dont see no footnotes on the first amendment.

The district courts & Supreme Court have ruled again & again that minors do NOT have full rights under the consitution in terms of their upbringing (it would be anarchy if kids were constantly asserting their "rights" to their parents) and that the schools acting "In Loco Parentis" have the right to kimit free expression (among other things) by students
Leaving aside the issue of harrasment, the young lady shouldn't have been making a political statement in school
Kids have been suspended for wearing all sorts of shirts bearing messages that incite political or personal controversy, regardless of the content
I can understand the rationale.....As someone who likes (thanks for pointing it out elsewhere Sheath!) inciting controversy I have been forced to learn to recognize that there are times & places that it's not appropriate
The schools are a mess and have enough issues without dealing with polical/social controversy being brought up by the kids' clothes
Ideally, SHOULD the girl be able to wear such a message without hassles? Yes, of COURSE!
But this isn't ideal.......all of you know it's going to bring on issues & comments that would distract from the learning environment of the schools
The only exception I can see to this is wearing small personal religious medallions or pendants, as for many it's a required matter of faith.....and then it should only be allowed if they quit hassling kids who wear pentacles
Got to apply everything fairly

Of course, for this whole thing to be fair, that means the kids shouldn't be allowed to wear pro-Republican or pro-George Bush shirts if they can't wear queer shirts

 

[sirhugs]

If the shirt said Barbie eats Pussy or something like that, OK.
But a shirt saying barbie is a Lesbian is making a sort of a political point. I dont see no footnotes on the first amendment.

oh, they are there, just invisible. The Supremes long ago adopted the " balancing rights" approach- so the Regan/Bush Nazis that dominae encourage lower courts to discriminate

 

[sirhugs]

James said:

"Leaving aside the issue of harrasment, the young lady shouldn't have been making a political statement in school "

why not? this is a statement, not an argument. and it makes no sense to me. political debate in school, especially on gender issues, is vital to the maturation of students. Stifling it encourages dumbing down and conformism.

debate never hurt anybody.

controversy sparks imagination and creativity.
IMHO, the people afraid of controversy usually are afraid of something else- generally, that their position is wrong.

 

[Etoile]

If the shirt said Barbie eats Pussy or something like that, OK.
But a shirt saying barbie is a Lesbian is making a sort of a political point. I dont see no footnotes on the first amendment.

Well put! I don't see anything wrong with the shirt, either. As for the teacher harrassing the kid and the principal keeping her for three hours, that's absurd.

And I agree that students are allowed to make political statements. I wore shirts from the very political (mostly left-wing) Northern Sun Merchandising when I was in school and never had any trouble, except when people made me hold still so they could read the back of my women's lib shirt.

 

[Angel]

Northern Sun Merchandising

http://www.northernsun.com/index.cgi/1713.html?id=AItkdCu8



HAH!

 

[sexy-girl]

it would be great if there was some copycats of this with even straight people buying a "barbie is a lesbian" t shirt

 

[Angel]

it would be great if there was some copycats of this with even straight people buying a "barbie is a lesbian" t shirt

s_g, I'd totally wear that if I was completely straight. I love shit like that.

I'd wear the shirt I linked above too

 

[James G 5]

James said:

"Leaving aside the issue of harrasment, the young lady shouldn't have been making a political statement in school "

why not? this is a statement, not an argument. and it makes no sense to me. political debate in school, especially on gender issues, is vital to the maturation of students. Stifling it encourages dumbing down and conformism.

debate never hurt anybody.

controversy sparks imagination and creativity.
IMHO, the people afraid of controversy usually are afraid of something else- generally, that their position is wrong.

Becuase very few people in the public school system, which is terribly overburdened and suffers from a lack of parental involvement and increasing discipline issues does not have the time or ability to deal with that sort of debate, or ANY major pilitical/religious/social debate
Not to mention that due to fear of lawsuits and hamstrining from overzealous politicos who're always looking for excuses to take more money away fromt he schools or pass even more eidiculous rules, the schools can't afford to allow this kind of debate DURING REGULAR SCHOOL SESSIONS. That's not to say they shouldn't allow discussion of them in proper forums, such as the debate team, classes where the topics would touch these areas, after school clubs, etc.
But during the main part of the school day, the job of both the faculty & the students is the education of the children. Wearing clothing that distracts or invites controversy does not serve to generate useful dialogue under those circumstances because such dialogue wii automatically intrude on time needed for education.

And while debate never hurt anyone, pushing that sort of a hot button in so broad a fashion has. For instance, the time my nose was broken becuase I got in to a "debate" with some classmates about homosexuality and 3 of them took me outside where 2 of them held me upside down by my ankles while the 3rd kicked me in the face & screamed "Faggot!" at me
That hurt pretty bad without sparking much except a habit for my nose to break easily and a chronic sinus infection I will probably have most of my life

 

[deliciously_naughty]

As a teacher...

13 is a painful and stressful age no matter what. Being gay makes it harder. Telling someone that they shouldn't wear the shirt "for their own good" or "because it would make life easier on them" tells the child that they should be ashamed of being gay. We would NEVER tell a child that they should be ashamed of their skin color. The same should apply for orientation.

Beyond that...yes, schools have dress codes. And while the principal might have the right to send the girl home to change (if it somehow violated code) s/he did NOT have the right to keep the child in his/her office for 3 hours.

Yes, we have increasing amounts of trouble because of lack of money, behavoir problems, larger classes. HOWEVER that is no excuse to stop teaching tolerance and acceptance. And at that age (8th grade) there is no reason not to be bringing up such issues as sexual orientation.

 

[Never]

The majority of schools allow teenagers to wear t-shirts as long as they don't promote illicit activities, aren't gang related, aren't offensive, aren't degrading to any group, or things along that line. If the school was working off of a zero-tolerance policy (most are) then I'm guessing someone decided her shirt was obscene. The mother could argue against that.

 

[sexy-girl]

The majority of schools allow teenagers to wear t-shirts as long as they don't promote illicit activities, aren't gang related, aren't offensive, aren't degrading to any group, or things along that line. If the school was working off of a zero-tolerance policy (most are) then I'm guessing someone decided her shirt was obscene. The mother could argue against that.

thats what i first thought also ... but the way they handled it was disgraceful

 

[James G 5]

The majority of schools allow teenagers to wear t-shirts as long as they don't promote illicit activities, aren't gang related, aren't offensive, aren't degrading to any group, or things along that line. If the school was working off of a zero-tolerance policy (most are) then I'm guessing someone decided her shirt was obscene. The mother could argue against that.

Actually, over the last few years, schools have been passing stricter & stricter codes barring shirts containing any sort of political, religious, or social messages due to either offended students (& their parents) suing over slogans or students wearing in shirts with messages citing things like "White Power" that were considered disruptive

I wasn't saying we should send a message that being gay is wrong by banning shirts with those messages, I was saying I understand, and to a great extent agree with, banning shirts containing ANY sort of message during school hours that's likely to cause disruption