"That’s so gay!"

White Shogun

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"That's So Gay" Saying at Center of Court Fight

SANTA ROSA, CA (AP) -- When a few classmates razzed Rebeka 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 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 putdown after two boys were paid to beat up a gay 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 non-jury trial after final written arguments are submitted in April. Her gag order prevents the two sides from discussing the case.

Derogatory terms for homosexuality have long been used as insults. But the landscape has become confusing in recent years as minority groups have tried to reclaim terms like "queer," "ghetto" and the n-word.

In recent years, gay 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 gay student club 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. They are seeking unspecified damages and want the disciplinary notation expunged from Rebekah's school record.

Eliza Byard, deputy executive director of the New York-based Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, said nearly nine out of 10 gay students her organization surveyed in 2005 reported hearing "That's so gay" or "You're so gay" frequently.

"It bothers them a lot," Byard said. "As odd or funny as the phrase sounds, imagine what it feels like to be in a setting where you consistently hear it used to describe something undesirable or stupid, and it also refers to you."

She said it is OK to discipline students for using the phrase after efforts have been made to educate them.

"The job of a school is to deal proactively and consistently with all forms of bullying, name-calling and harassment," she said.

Jordan Lorence, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization, agreed "That's so gay" carries a negative meaning and said he would not want his children to say it. But he said formal discipline is not the answer.

"Reasonable people should say, `Let's put a stop to this kind of search-and-destroy mission by school officials for everything that is politically incorrect,"' he said.
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Note that no where in this article is any mention made of the teasing and razzing this girl put up with because of her religion. The only one's who get 'equal protection under the law' are gays and minorities.
 

jaxvid

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The whole issue is just so gay!
 

White Shogun

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It's ironic that homosexuals co-opted the word 'gay' for their own use in a public relations coup, but are now fighting someone else's use of that same word in a different way.

Too bad all those very happy people back in the day didn't sue for being unfairly labeled as homosexuals!
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Colonel_Reb

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Good point Shogun. I think if they don't like people saying "gay" they should call themselves what I call them, homosexuals. The parents make good points about the abuse their daughter received though.
 

White Shogun

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Colonel_Reb said:
Good point Shogun. I think if they don't like people saying "gay" they should call themselves what I call them, homosexuals. The parents make good points about the abuse their daughter received though.

I wonder if they protest the British use of the word '****' in reference to cigarettes? Hm...
 

Colonel_Reb

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Good one Shogun!
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DixieDestroyer

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The Pink/Velvet Mafia hijacked the word "gay", the "rainbow" and the color "pink". In addition, they use PR methods to drum up public sympathy by calling their demands/extortion attempts "gay rights", etc. It's all about perception with the homo-radicals. They love framing themselves up as the victims, when if fact they are the aggressors...pushing their immoral agenda on America!

For more details on how the Pink/Velvet Mafia operates, I strongly suggest the following...

http://shop.wnd.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=1679
 

LabMan

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It is alarming to realize that most young kids in the U.S.have been conditioned to believe that gays are just happy go lucky,fun loving people.The gay males are known to be able to relate to American women.

God knows the marxist agenda has destroyed the ability of the heterosexual male to relate,to anyone!
 

guest301

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Tim Hardaway knew what he was talking about.
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jaxvid

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LabMan said:
It is alarming to realize that most young kids in the U.S.have been conditioned to believe that gays are just happy go lucky,fun loving people.The gay males are known to be able to relate to American women.

God knows the marxist agenda has destroyed the ability of the heterosexual male to relate,to anyone!

I think the new usage of the word is a kind of backlash. Nearly all young boys use the word as mentioned in the article, as an insult, indicating that they think being gay is stupid or bad. This can be assumed as a natural response of young men to feel revulsion at unnatural acts especially as they are just coming into maturity.

No amount of silly school discipline, court decisions, or gay special right groups whining is going to change the fact that allmost all young men will always see gays as something stupid and pathetic. In fact this type of PC heavy handedness is only going to make them want to ridicule more.
 

cslewis1

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jaxvid said:
I think the new usage of the word is a kind of backlash. Nearly all young boys use the word as mentioned in the article, as an insult, indicating that they think being gay is stupid or bad. This can be assumed as a natural response of young men to feel revulsion at unnatural acts especially as they are just coming into maturity.

No amount of silly school discipline, court decisions, or gay special right groups whining is going to change the fact that allmost all young men will always see gays as something stupid and pathetic. In fact this type of PC heavy handedness is only going to make them want to ridicule more.

I couldn't agree more. In fact, the same goes with the extreme persecution of whites in this society today. RIght now it seems we dare not utter a word in our own defense in public, but what is really going on is in the beginning of a backlash as people start waking up to reality and slowly, slowly begin to take a stand. This is why the 2008 election is so important. If a guy like Tancredo runs and makes headway, that will ahve huge implications for immigration policy and such.
I hope he does.
 
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