Missouri School To Drop Gay T-Shirt Ban
by 365Gay.com from the Web, April 27, 2005
Webb City, MO -- The Webb City School District announced Tuesday that it will loosen its restrictions on gay pride T-shirts.
The district revealed its plan in a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit against it.
LaStaysha Myers, a heterosexual 15-year-old student at Webb City High School in Missouri, was twice sent home from school last November for wearing homemade t-shirts; first, one bearing several handwritten slogans such as "I support the gay rights!" and "Who are we to judge?" and the next day one that bore a rainbow and the Webster’s dictionary definition of "gay":
"M[e]rry, happy."
The ACLU filed suit earlier this month accusing the school district of violating Myers' First Amendment rights.
Myers and several other students were supporting Brad Mathewson, a gay student who last October had been punished, sent home for wearing a gay-positive t-shirt.
Mathewson sued the school district last year. In December the teen quit school
and that suit was dropped.
The principal said the T-shirts were disruptive and against the school’s dress code.
He also said the shirts brought a controversial issue inside the school.
Under the proposed new policy, students would be allowed to wear such shirts to school.
The change wouldn't go into effect until the end of the summer since only a month remains in the school year.
The ACLU has not indicated if it will accept the proposed settlement.
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