Kurtz
12-14-2007, 10:46 PM
(Gary, Indiana) A student who was barred from attending a high school prom for wearing a dress is suing Gary, Indiana's West Side High School alleging his civil rights were violated.
Kevin Logan arrived at the prom last May wearing a fuchsia, slinky prom dress and heels but was not allowed inside.
Principal Diane Rouse stretched her arms across the door of the Senior Prom, blocking Logan's entrance. (story)
Logan's classmates and friends rallied to his defense to no avail.
"I’m gay. I’m a drag queen,” Kevin said at the time. A lesbian student who wore a tuxedo was not asked to leave the prom.
A month later when Logan graduated he wore a dress under his graduation gown. High heels were only slightly visible.
Logan's lawsuit argues that his First Amendment rights were violated, including the freedoms of speech, symbolic action, and expressive conduct. The school district also engaged in unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex and gender the lawsuit, filed by Lambda Legal says.
"I dress this way because it's who I am and how I feel on the inside," Logan said in a statement. "Gay and trans students have rights, and they should be treated fairly."
Principal Rouse has stood by a school policy that deems inappropriate any "clothing/accessories that advertise sexual orientation, sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, profanity, negative social or negative educational statements."
"The fact that sexual orientation is lumped in with drugs and profanity in the school's dress code is just plain offensive, but even more troublesome is that the whole policy is in violation of students' First Amendment rights," said Lambda Legal attorney James P. Madigan.
"There are ways to write policies that both create rules for student behavior and also respect their rights — but this isn't one of them."
Gay Student (http://365gay.com/Newscon07/12/121407student.htm)
Kevin Logan arrived at the prom last May wearing a fuchsia, slinky prom dress and heels but was not allowed inside.
Principal Diane Rouse stretched her arms across the door of the Senior Prom, blocking Logan's entrance. (story)
Logan's classmates and friends rallied to his defense to no avail.
"I’m gay. I’m a drag queen,” Kevin said at the time. A lesbian student who wore a tuxedo was not asked to leave the prom.
A month later when Logan graduated he wore a dress under his graduation gown. High heels were only slightly visible.
Logan's lawsuit argues that his First Amendment rights were violated, including the freedoms of speech, symbolic action, and expressive conduct. The school district also engaged in unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex and gender the lawsuit, filed by Lambda Legal says.
"I dress this way because it's who I am and how I feel on the inside," Logan said in a statement. "Gay and trans students have rights, and they should be treated fairly."
Principal Rouse has stood by a school policy that deems inappropriate any "clothing/accessories that advertise sexual orientation, sex, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, profanity, negative social or negative educational statements."
"The fact that sexual orientation is lumped in with drugs and profanity in the school's dress code is just plain offensive, but even more troublesome is that the whole policy is in violation of students' First Amendment rights," said Lambda Legal attorney James P. Madigan.
"There are ways to write policies that both create rules for student behavior and also respect their rights — but this isn't one of them."
Gay Student (http://365gay.com/Newscon07/12/121407student.htm)