First Amendment
ACLU Says School Should Have Allowed Anti-Gay T-Shirt
Posted Feb 19, 2008, 07:52 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A student who wanted to wear a T-shirt to her high school that read “Be Happy, Not Gay” is getting some support from the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU filed an amicus brief in the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals supporting the suburban Chicago student’s free speech rights, the Naperville Sun and Chicago Tribune report. The brief (PDF) contends the school district’s policy prohibiting disparaging speech is overbroad and vague.
The Alliance Defense Fund, which supports Christian causes, had filed a lawsuit challenging the policy on behalf of the student. She wanted to wear the T-shirt the day after a gay rights group sponsored a “Day of Silence” at the school to promote tolerance.
The ACLU brief argues that courts considering school bans on speech that invades the rights of others should weigh whether the speech constitutes harassment as defined by anti-discrimination case law, according to an ACLU press release.