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| Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD. | |||
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May 14, 2004
According to the Christian conservative group American Family Association, a North Carolina school district will apologize for censoring three students for wearing T-shirts quoting the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality. Whether you agree with their condemnation or not, bigots have rights, too.
The students wore shirts during a national gay student demonstration, "National Day of Silence," that said “Homosexuality is sin (Leviticus 18:22),” “Hell is REAL (Revelation 21:8),” and “Jesus is the Answer! (Romans 10:9-10).”
Thanks to free speech, bigotry has a face in the Watauga County School District that in a repressive society would seeth in the shadows and find tragic methods of expression. Thanks to free speech, the market place of ideas can properly value such disgusting attitudes by allowing people who make their voices count to call them for what they are while at the same time allowing those who hold opposing opinions to decide whether those attitudes are worth promoting.
The censorship of these students was yet another example of knee-jerk reactions from public school administrators in America. The incidence further illustrates the need in this country for a mandatory course in public schools on the United States Constitution at the high school level.
Another example of the sad state of affairs in our public schools took place this past week in Utah's Hillcrest High School. There, high school administrators suspended 4 students for refusing to cover up gay anti-smoking t-shirts that said "Queers Kick Ash."
America treasures our founding principles of freedom of speech, and this freedom has a way of allowing truth to prevail even in the face of objectionable speech. Public school administrators who react in an unconstitutional manner toward the excercise of free speech by students ought to be fired. Their illegal reaction to the messengers demonstrates a level of intollerance and disrespect for the law that fuels negative reactions and a hostility toward the Constitution rather than helping to foster discourse on the subjects rasied under freedom of speech.
If we don't demand public school administrators adhere to the law, our country will quickly go the way of Canada's rediculous and oppressive speech codes and the kind of society these type laws will eventually produce.
filed under: Free Speech