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August 19, 2009
E-mail a friendYOUNG VOICES
"That's So Gay!"
When Rebekah Rice of Maria Corrillo High School murmured the phrase "That's so gay" to some classmates who were teasing her about her Mormon upbringing, she was singled out by the teacher and sent to the principal's office. As a punishment, a note was placed in her school file.
Since then, she experienced teasing and ridicule from classmates, both about her religious beliefs and because of her off-the-cuff statement. As a result, her parents sued the school for monetary damages.
The judge ruled today that Rice was not entitled to any of the damages because the law explicitly excluded schools from these types of claims. In the ruling the judge wrote, "All of us have probably felt at some time that we were unfairly punished by a callous teacher, or picked on and teased by boorish and uncaring bullies...Unfortunately, this is part of what teenagers endure in becoming adults."
The judge based her opinion on a phrase that every child has heard at least once growing up. "Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." That's what makes the basis of the teenager's complaint even more ironic. In a politically correct society, where we teach kids that using terminology that can be misunderstood as racism or religiously discriminatory (or even homophobic) is taboo, how can we claim that hearing them is "just a part of growing up"? That's inconsistent. And inconsistency is really gay.