"Straight Pride". (Making a Difference).(high school student's shirt causes controversy)(Brief Article)

On the afternoon of January 16, 2001, 16-year-old Elliott Corbett, then a sophomore, currently a junior, at Woodbury High School in St. Paul, Minnesota, was told by an assistant principal that a female student had registered a complaint against a sweat-shirt he had worn to school that day. The girl represented a group of homosexual and lesbian students offended by the "Straight Pride" logo embossed on the front of the shirt, and a picture of a stick man and woman holding hands on the back.

According to Elliott and his parents, Kendal and Lana Corbett, the shirt was not intended to denigrate other sexual lifestyles, but rather to make a positive statement about heterosexuality at a school that caters to homosexual students by displaying inverted pink triangles (widely-recognized symbols of the homosexual movement) at so-called "safe" sites set aside for student/teacher discussions and counseling about homosexuality and other non-traditional relationships. In the words of Mrs. Corbett, her son's intent was to show support "for the traditional and wholesome way to approach sex ... which is God's plan."

The next day, Elliott, a devout Christian, was summoned to the office of principal Dana Babbitt and told that he would not be allowed to wear the sweatshirt because it violated the school's dress code prohibiting the wearing of items with unacceptable written or graphic depictions that offend others. "Unacceptable" depictions were defined as those commonly viewed as vulgar, obscene, or socially demeaning or derogatory. His sweatshirt messages, Babbitt ...