A Texas teenager expressed his opinion that, since he is a “christian,” he believes that homosexuality is wrong. Makes sense. This magic space zombie jew created heaven and earth, but the thing that really makes him mad is if two guys’ dicks touch.
His teacher wrote him up for expressing his opinion, and the school suspended him.
I’m all for giving the kid a smackdown, but like his speech or not, it was his First Amendment right to express his opinion. As long as he wasn’t being disruptive in class (and nothing in the story indicates that he was), then it seems pretty clear that the school stepped over the line. There is a report that the kid often brings up the issue, any chance he gets, in an effort to harass his teacher (who he seems to think is gay). But, even then, suspending him for frequently expressing his opinion is troubling.
Unfortunately, the Dallas Voice, a LGBT website has jumped in on the side of the teacher. (source) I find it most unfortunate that the Dallas Voice is jumping in on the side of “its tribe,” instead of the greater principle of freedom of expression.
The cause of equality would be far better served by gay rights groups standing up in favor of the kid’s right to express himself.
By Email
By RSS Feed
The Legal Satyricon 
It’s a school, and it’s a child. Children have no rights, especially at school.
For someone reading a legal blog, you’re a fucking idiot.
I think that this was supposed to be sarcasm.
Agreed. There are times when issues don’t break down “liberal vs. conservative” but rather “authoritarian” vs. “not authoritarian”.
Example: SOME feminists side with the religious right on censorship issues.
by “agreed” I meant that I agree with Randazza here.
If a student had stood up in a class in geometry class and said “I am a member of the KKK, blacks aren’t smart enough to be math teachers” to a black teacher, would that be protected speech?
The article, admittedly from a PoV hostile to the student, seems to describe this incident in a similar fashion. It states that the teacher felt that the statement was “aimed specifically at him to devalue him and any information he might share on the topic of religion, on the basis of his perceived sexual orientation.”
Yes, so the teacher’s feelings trumped the kid’s free speech rights. I have a problem with that.
“I am a member of the KKK, blacks aren’t smart enough to be math teachers” to a black teacher, would that be protected speech?”
If the black teacher had any sense, he would say, “Okay, let’s take these statements one at a time and discuss them.” He would neither discipline the student nor go running to the ACLU. These speech issues only become Big Issues when people choose to make them big. Especially in a school, all viewpoints should be fair game for debate.
I disagree. If the teacher had any sense, he’d say “This is a math class. Future outbursts unrelated to this class will cause the individual to be written up. Please feel free to start a blacks-aren’t-smart-enough-to-be-math-teachers club or express your opinion at an appropriate time.”
I clicked thru to the third article that described the events from the student’s PoV. If it was a private conversation with another student, not a statement to the teacher intended to disrupt the class, then yeah, this is BS.
“This magic space zombie jew created heaven and earth, but the thing that really makes him mad is if two guys’ dicks touch.”
Cracked up at this.