‘We’re All Lesbians’ T-shirt Gets An Eighth Grader In Dress Code Battle With School
October 21, 2019Justice Cilli-Smith, an eighth-grade student who is openly gay, went to school wearing a ‘we are all lesbians’ shirt, after seeing the Broadway musical ‘The Prom’.
Cilli-Smith was called to the guidance office of her school where the student assistance counsellor told her that her shirt was in violation of the school’s dress code.
"The student assistance counselor referenced the (dress code's) sixth bullet point when I spoke with her over the phone. It forbids 'articles of clothing that contain references to illegal substances, sexual innuendos, inappropriate language, and pictures, sayings or symbols that show affiliation with hate groups, gangs, or demeaning messages directed toward any individual, group or association,'" Cillo-Smith's mother, Gwen Wu told ‘TODAY’.
“My initial reaction was one of great displeasure and disappointment in the school's policy because my daughter and I felt that the shirt wasn't in any violation of dress code," Wu said. "The principal told me that it was disruptive to the learning environment as she could be targeted for the shirt because middle school students weren't as accepting as students in the high school and that he was in fact 'protecting her' by making her remove the shirt.”
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