School girl told to change out of pro-gay t-shirt because it ‘disrupted’ other students
A student has been made to change out of a t-shirt with a pro-gay message because she was told it was “disruptive” to other students.
Ali Chaney, 13, was told to change the t-shirt by school officials.
The eighth grade student at SC Lee Junior High school went to school wearing her “some people are gay. Get over it”, shirt.
Cassie Watson, Chaney’s mother, said she was shocked when her daughter called her in tears saying she felt she was being discriminatedWats against.
“I would never, ever have expected it from the administration. I would think that the administration would be the first ones there to support her,” Watson told KCEN TV.
Asked to explain the reasons for the action, spokeswoman for the School District Wendy Sledd said it was “disruptive”, and therefore broke the dress code.
“Our purpose at CCISD is to educate children, first and foremost. According to CCISD’s dress code in the student handbook and code of conduct, clothing that is disruptive to the learning environment based on reactions by other students is prohibited. The student was offered a school shirt to wear and declined,” Sledd said in a statement.
Speaking to local media outside the school, Sledd said the shirt had proven distracting to other students.
“It’s just a shirt, and it’s not hurting anybody,” said Chaney.
She highlighted the hypocrisy of the policy, saying it was not equally enforced, by showing a photograph of a friend wearing a t-shirt suggesting President Obama is an ‘Islamic Communist’.
Chaney says her friend was not asked to change.
But the District responded by showing a picture of a student who wore a Miley Cyrus twerking t-shirt, who apparently was asked to change and did so.
“The photo of the shirt demonstrates that the dress code is enforced fairly and equally with every student,” said Sledd to KCEN TV.
A complaint has been filed by Watson to the school district.
