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Tell Falcon High School: Gay Marriage T-Shirts Are Not Offensive or Lewd
  1. Signatures
    419 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Superintendent (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Superintendent (Dr. Bradley Schoeppey)
      • Communications Specialist (Stephanie Meredith)
  2. Created By
    Michael Jones
    Boston, MA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

It's amazing how T-shirts can cause such a ruckus. Whether it's a ninth grader in Arkansas being suspended from school for wearing a T-shirt that says "Support homosexual love," or a 16-year-old Wisconsin student told to take off his pro-gay marriage T-shirt, while his classmates wear T-shirts that say "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve," clothing has become quite the controversy this school year.

It's the same story at Falcon High School in Colorado, where senior Kate Cohn showed up at school wearing a T-shirt that many of us have seen before. It's just four simple words enclosed in brackets, written across a solid color T-shirt: "[marriage is so gay]".

What was the reaction from Cohn's school when she showed up wearing the shirt to class? That the shirt was offensive and disruptive to the educational process.

"There's been abortion groups that have worn shirts, Christians have shirts and a club at our school," Cohn said. But students are apparently not allowed to wear pro-gay marriage T-shirts, else they will be called into the principal's office.

Send Falcon High a message that pro-gay marriage T-shirts are not lewd or offensive. Yes, schools should be able to maintain a dress code that doesn't disrupt the educational process. But a "[marriage is so gay]" T-shirt shouldn't get students in trouble, and shouldn't be censored by school districts.

Recent Signatures

Gay T-shirts are not offensive

Dear Dr. Schoeppey and Ms. Meredith,

Recently, a student at Falcon High School in your district was punished for wearing a "[marriage is so gay]" T-shirt to class. The principal of the school asked her to remove the T-shirt, considering it a violation of the school's dress code policy that prevents clothing that is lewd, obscene, or could disrupt the educational process.

What's troubling about this story, at least according to a news report that ran on KKTV, is that the school does allow students to wear T-shirts that oppose abortion, and that support various religious values. Why is it that these T-shirts are acceptable, but a T-shirt as innocuous as "[marriage is so gay}" is considered lewd, obscene, and disruptive?

I also find the message your district is sending by labeling a "[marriage is so gay]" T-shirt offensive very troubling. What kind of message does that send to students in your district who might be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, or those who have gay family members?

I wish you'd reconsider your decision to label this T-shirt offensive, and apologize to the student who got in trouble for wearing the T-shirt.

Thank you for your time.

[Your name]

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