Student Told to Cover Up Lesbian T-Shirt; ACLU Takes Up Her Cause
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A lesbian high school student says she was asked by a teacher to cover up a lesbian-themed T-shirt or face suspension, and now a civil liberties group has taken up her cause.
Bethany Laccone, 17, said she was asked to cloak a logo of two interlocked female symbols while attending a hotel management class this month at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth. She's a senior at nearby Woodrow Wilson High School, where she has not faced a similar ultimatum.
In a letter sent Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia asked Norcom administrators to remove any mention of the incident from Laccone's records and agree not to similarly censor other students.
ACLU leaders want administrators to clarify that students can express political views. The school's dress code prohibits "bawdy, salacious or sexually suggestive messages."
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