WP: Michigan H.S. Students Defend Gay Rights (amazing story!)

[DeepModem Mom]

Students Defend Gay Rights
Painted Message Prompts Punishment in Michigan District

By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 11, 2005; A03


HOWELL, Mich. -- When someone painted "God hates fags" on the school rock at Howell High, Shayna Kamilar did not hesitate. She called her friends, told her mother she was going out and left the house....

***

Kamilar and her pals used 18 cans of spray paint to cover the rock and write the word LOVE dozens of times on school property. They got themselves accused of vandalism, suspended from class and barred from Saturday's graduation.

The community reacted strongly, praising the original spirit of the rock-painting expedition while acknowledging that the extended artwork may have gone too far. More than 200 students protested the punishment, and parents scheduled a small backyard graduation ceremony for the group's three seniors.

Now the ceremony has been moved to a football field. One teacher will speak. Another will hand out the diplomas. The valedictorian will repeat the address he is giving earlier in the day. The school photographer will record the event for free. Even the superintendent called to make sure the seniors have caps, gowns and yearbooks....

***

At a time of profound political opposition to same-sex marriage, with national studies showing significant schoolyard harassment of gay teenagers, the positive response at Howell High and a suburban Detroit school this year buoyed advocates of equal rights for gay men and lesbians....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/10/AR2005061001747_pf.html

[Psephos]

1. This is so excellent...thanks for the post. n/t

[getmeouttahere]

2. Beautiful.....too bad this sort of thing....

isn't catching all over the place!

[Reverend_Smitty]

3. What a great bunch of kids...

good for them!

[Luminous Animal]

4. Excellent!

The next generation to lead the good fight.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. Makes me think ........

........ there's hope.

Thank you.

[nevergiveup]

6. What a terrific story!

It renews my faith

[meganmonkey]

7. Wow! In Howell, nonetheless!

You may remember this town for its infamous auctions lately of KKK robes and other gear - that's been getting a lot of press the last year or so.

Great to see some positive news from there like this!

[Carla in Ca]

8. Now that's the kind of story I like to read!

Thanks for posting!

[flygal]

9. damnit

I am such a crybaby ---sniff-- That was cool!

[Occulus]

10. I'm glad this happened...

...students need to realize they have a great deal of power themselves if they organize. In fact, by all rights, this kind of positive reaction should be easy to cause to catch on for this age group.

[JohnLocke]

11. Students, teachers, administrators, and elected officers working together!

:woohoo:

[alittlelark]

12. Kids today are sooo much more 'with it' than those I went to school with

in the late 70's. I'm very proud of them!!!:applause: :patriot: :applause:

[roguevalley]

13. God bless the good hearts of kids.

[EFerrari]

14. What a great story. Thank you. Maybe the kids will be all right.

:)

[JNelson6563]

15. Makes me proud to be from Michigan

While we have our share of morans, we've got some great people too! Especially kids!

Julie

[SharonRB]

16. Me. too.

In Howell, of all places! That's great.

[SharonRB]

17. Are you coming to Funday next Saturday in Saginaw

at 5thgenerationdem's place? See the Michigan Forum for details. He can send you directions if you want to come. Sounds like it will be fun to meet other DUers.

[Pathwalker]

18. Howell USED to be Klanville, glad to see this change!!!

n/t

[DrZeeLit]

19. Yes, for the most part, the majority of students are very inclusive.

It has been my experience that students are very, very careful about what hurts their peers. They are generally a very accepting bunch. Sure, cliques are everywhere, but the majority of the students even support the cliques' rights. High school students do rally 'round each other these days. They are rather emotional about it.

I see it as freshmen enter college, but I've worked with local high schools and as I walk on campuses I see the same thing. They seem more aware. Not necessarily politically, but in a way of sensitivity. Of course, that's a general perception. I'm sure different areas of the country would be ... um... different (lol).

[kath]

20. Here's a story about a HS in OH whose sr. class is supportive of gays/lesb

lesbians:

Tee'd off -- Shirts at Dover High have message -- so does administration at school
By MICHELLE PARK, T-R Staff Writer

{snip}
On their last day of school Tuesday, more than 50 Dover High students were not permitted to wear senior class T-shirts whose slogans dealt with sexual preference. Those who showed up to school in the shirts, which were designed and distributed by two seniors, were told to change or face suspension. Jerrica Childs, 17, and Cherokee Burrell, 18, designed the T-shirts. Male students wore it in pink, and female students wore it in blue. On the front, the T-shirt read “We’re out” and was accompanied by an illustration of an open closet. On the back are the words “like half our class.”
<snip>

The shirt had purposeful innuendo and was meant to point out how tolerant of diversity the senior class is, Childs said. She designed the shirts because those the school created, which had “Class of 2005” printed on the front and space for seniors to sign on the back, weren’t “exciting.” “That’s the point we were getting at,” she said. “Our generation is accepting of everybody. All the homosexual people were fine with it. They were excited about the T-shirts.”

{snip}
Last year, the senior T-shirts read, “We’re out like a fat kid in dodgeball,” Childs said.

http://www.timesreporter.com/left.php?ID=41939&r=0
____________

Good for the kids. Disgusting that the administration was totally OK with last year's shirt "We’re out - like a fat kid in dodgeball,”
with its HATEFUL message, and banned this year's shirt with its accepting message.

My niece goes to this high school. Apparently at least a handful of this years senior class is openly gay or lesbian. My sister attended a meeting about the issue, or at least went to talk to the admin about it (I'm not sure of the details as to whether or not it was a big formal meeting.) My sister teaches in the district (younger kids) The principal is being a jerk about the whole thing. My sister (and others) expressed disgust and pointed out that last year's shirt was A-OK with the administration, while this years accepting message is banned. Such bullshit. Of course there are some folks in the community saying things like "Is half the senior class really gay??!" Yeeesh.
_

[DeepModem Mom]

22. Thanks for this report, kath -- From personal experience...

with this generation, I would agree that they are very "accepting" of sexual preference and racial differences. And I've heard that there are studies that confirm this, even among kids who are politically conservative.

[kath]

24. This school is in a fairly small town in Central Ohio- quite conservative

area -- so much so, that when my sister told her older daughter, a college freshman, last fall that she must vote for Kerry my niece replied "But mom, you're the only person I know who supports Kerry - how do I know you're right?". Well, she went off to college and heard Michael Moore speak, which made her start to think Mom was on the right track. Then she attended (at her college) some sort of international political forum. She called her mom after this forum and said "wow, Mom, of those people from other countries who spoke, EVERY single one of them was anti-Bush!" It really opened her eyes. She voted Kerry.

Anyhoo, I got a bit off track, but when I think about this it really seems remarkable that hs students in *such* a conservative area could be so supportive of openly gay classmates. The gay students really thought the t-shirt was cool. Pathetic that the principal had to be such a jackass.

[fortyfeetunder]

21. Courage!

The stuff the civil rights movement was made of. While I don't agree with the kids spray painting more than the rock, the irony was the kids got a harsher punishment for it than previous violators.

[warrens]

23. How refreshing. Someone dealing with a situation sanely

The kids probably had to be punished in some way for tagging the place, even if the instinct was good. But the school helped make sure the punishment fit the "crime." Great story.

[Karenina]

25. Good news is hard to come by...

:kick::kick::kick:

[0007]

26. America is taking a step forward against ignorance and bigotry

[Solly Mack]

27. Pockets of resistance become well springs of hope