This article details a legal battle about speech. The incident it's based on seems pretty cut and dry. The ramifications aren't.
A high school student in California uttered the phrase "That's so gay," the Associated Press says. She got a note put in her file, and her parents are suing. School officials say they are abiding by their duty to protect gay students. The parents say they are protecting their daughter's freedom of speech.
This is one of those situations where you ask yourself about whether some words are in good taste. But then you have to ask whether taste should determine legality. You parents telling you not to say something is one thing. The same action by the government -- even if it's through the school system -- is a totally separate situation.
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I head on Democracy Now! that NY has banned the "n-word." I don't use the word myself, but it's stupid to ban a word. Similarly, the use of the word gay to mean stupid is a fad. It will fade out in a few years. To punish people for speech is wrong.
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