Last Friday a guy in 10th grade organized a LGBT support day thing and about 10 people dressed up and about 10 more put rainbows on their lockers. During first period two of the girls that dressed up got called down to the office and my principle said that they were just doing it for attention. Later on there was an announcement saying that anyone that still had a rainbow on their locker would have an after school if we didn't take them down by 5th period. Some of the teachers gave the people that dressed up (myself included) some pretty dirty looks. I asked the principle why he had a problem with people dressing up since no one's outfit violated the dress code and he pretty much said that even though my school does not discriminate against anything that there isn't a place for a display like that in the school. So I get that the guy that organized it didn't really get permission from the administration to have stuff on our lockers or to have people dress up but how is it any different from people dressing up on St. Patrick's day and putting pots of gold on their lockers? Or when people dress up the day before holiday break? I've just kind of been thinking about this and wanted other people's opinions on it so yeah.
What do you mean by "dressed up?" Were the outfits distracting or racy, or were they normal outfits with a message on them or something? What were the rainbows? Sitckers, magnets? Is there a precedent of being allowed to decorate your lockers in support of other causes, or to support a sports team?
By dressing up I meant that they were all in rainbow colors and some of the shirts had messages on them like, "love is love regardless of gender" and stuff like that. most of the girls wore colored jeans or shorts with leggings and either tie-dyed shirts or shirts with painted on quotes on them. Like I said, none of the outfits violated any school dress codes.
You were in the right. :/ If your outfits didn't violate codes, you have every right to dress as you see fit; if you decide to coordinate appropriate outfits with other students to send a message, then I think that is perfectly fine. It's not like you all were marching down the halls making a huge scene as a group, right?
If there was an unauthorized demonstration, you might have a problem. But a bunch of people (a couple dozen, out of the whole school?) wearing pretty colors doesn't seem like it should matter. It seems to me that what you did really shouldn't have been a problem; students coordinating with each other in support of an idea without the school's consent could be seen as troublemaking if it's blown out of proportion enough. I have to agree with those above me; you should have had every right to do this. And with regards to teachers giving you dirty looks, even if they didn't actually say anything, it seems totally uncalled fior and unprofessional. Teachers should be judging your academic progress, not your beliefs.
You should contact someone. You are legally protected under Tinker v. Des Moines. This was a landmark case (that actually took place at my high school) in which several students sought legal action after being told they were not allowed to wear black arm bands in protest of the Vietnam War. It went all the way to the Supreme Court and the students won.
Nah wont happen. If you want to, do it again. But theres no point in 'seeking justice' because, when you're dealing with teachers as a kid, theres none to be found. Too much hassle for little or no beneficial outcome.
Except, as I said, it has happened and these students are absolutely, clearly protected under a major Supreme Court ruling. They do have a case.
Check the laws of your state and local community regarding anti-bullying and protections for LGBT youth. It sounds like your principal is a homophobic bigot, and nearly all school systems now provide protections of some sort for LGBT youth. But that doesn't mean there aren't bigoted teachers and principals who need to be reminded by higher-ups that expression (as described by steel03) is permitted, and that LGBT youth are to be protected against discrimination. I would seriously fight this. Unless you're in a totally backwater state, you probably have protections.
