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Quote :

Student lawsuit hinges on whether 'That's so gay' is hate speech
By LISA LEFF
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3/4/2007

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - When a few classmates razzed Rebekah Rice about her Mormon upbringing with questions such as, "Do you have 10 moms?" she shot back: "That's so gay."
Those three words landed the high school freshman in the principal's office and resulted in a lawsuit that raises this question: When do playground insults used every day all over America cross the line into hate speech that must be stamped out?

After Rice got a warning and a notation in her file, her parents sued, claiming officials at Santa Rosa's Maria Carillo High School violated their daughter's First Amendment rights when they disciplined her for uttering a phrase "which enjoys widespread currency in youth culture," according to court documents.

Testifying last week about the 2002 incident, Rice, now 18, said that when she uttered those words, she was not referring to anyone's sexual orientation. She said the phrase meant: "That's so stupid, that's so silly, that's so dumb."

But school officials say they took a strict stand against the put-down after two boys were paid to beat up a homosexual student the year before.

"The district has a statutory duty to protect gay students from harassment," the district's lawyers argued in a legal brief. "In furtherance of this goal, prohibition of the phrase "That's so gay' . . . was a reasonable regulation."

Superior Court Judge Elaine Rushing plans to issue a ruling in the nonjury trial after final written arguments are submitted in April. Her gag order prevents the two sides from discussing the case.

In recent years, homosexual rights advocates and educators have tried teaching students that it is hurtful to use the word "gay" as an all-purpose term for something disagreeable. At Berkeley High School, a student club for homosexuals passed out buttons with the words "That's so gay" crossed out to get their classmates to stop using them.

Rick Ayers, a retired teacher who helped compile and publish the "Berkeley High School Slang Dictionary," a compendium of trendy teen talk circa 2001, said educating students about offensive language is preferable to policing their speech.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this girl didn't even know the origin of that term," he said. "The kids who get caught saying it will claim it's been decontextualized, but others will say, "No, you know what that means.' It's quite talked about."

Rice's parents, Elden and Katherine Rice, also claim the public high school employed a double-standard because, they say, administrators never sought to shield Rebekah from teasing based on Mormon stereotypes.

In addition, the Rices say their daughter was singled out because of the family's conservative views on sexuality.

That's so GAY!!!

lol...thats interesting. if they make that sort of illegal to say that, you'll land your butt in jail all the time eric, cuz you say that all the time! lol

That's so stupid that they punished her for saying that and didn't punish the other kids for teasing her in the first place.

And, yes, I think gay marriage is wrong. Not just because the Bible says it is, but because it's just not natural. No matter what those biased scientists say, you cannot be born gay. All this "tolerance" crap is driving me crazy. So they're allowed to stuff whatever they like down our throats and we're not allowed to speak out? Ridiculous.

lol...i agree. plus like so many people say that something is gay so how can u all of the sudden not be able to say it, and expect people to remember that?

OOOOHHH!!! YAY!!! I'm so happy, ppl r reading my topic!!!

wat do you cpect them to do idiot. lol

im glad they did that cause wen u think about that it is racic i mean say u were gay wouldnt u be offended and scared i mean come on do u guys just not like gay people cause its against the bible wat the f*** is up w/ that its stupid im locking this topic

its not relle about gay people...its about saying that something is gay....eric just saw it and thought it was interesting that people might not be able to say "thats so gay"

Jackie wrote:

its not relle about gay people...its about saying that something is gay....eric just saw it and thought it was interesting that people might not be able to say "thats so gay"

I dont care i still think its rude

ok...thats ur opinion its ok...just try to watch the language please.

U think i'm rude for postin it or it's rude wut they did 2 her or wut she sed? By the way, the bible looks down upon gay ppl, did u know that?

screw the bible

Please keep those comments 2 urself i'm a very religious person

yes....PLEASE do not say that about the Bible

Hey, there's another thing we agree on!

you mean like the ONLY thing you agree on, an Eric SHUT UP! you arent THAT religious. o brother.

we agree on 2 things...I THINK

yea...i figured that out after i made that post. lol

haha

lol...but Josh is still gay and stupid.. but not ACTUALLY gay.

i am neither...YOU ARE...you also suck

haha...no his brother is gay. with mine. lol

yeah...you're right!

hmm...should it be liam or brendan? how bout liam? lol

Liam, duh