Three Male Students Wear “Straight Pride” Shirts First Day Of Ally Week And St. Charles Illinois High School Does Nothing

Three male St. Charles North High School students, in Illinois, who wore tee shirts with the words “Straight Pride” along with a Biblical quote that references putting gays to death, will not face disciplinary action according to the Daily Herald. The students wore the shirts Monday, the quote from Leviticus 20:13 on the back, reading “If a man lay with a male as those who lay with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination and shall surely be put to death.” The students told school administrators that the tee shirts were not meant to menace or threaten, but to articulate pride in being straight. This week is Ally Week at both St. Charles schools – a week meant to “identify, support and celebrate allies against” homosexual or transgender bullying and harassment. Jim Blaney, the school district spokesperson, said “This is the trick in an issue like this. You have to balance one person’s right to free speech to another’s person’s right to not be offended,” and added that the incident was a “teachable moment.”