Too Gay to Function

Interesting case of 3rd-level irony: In Longview, Washington, a school had a “Make your own T-shirt day.” One openly gay student took a lime-green tee, drew rainbows on it with magic marker, and inscribed the chest with the words “Too gay to function” (apparently lifted from the movie “Mean Girls”). The school sent him home for inappropriate dress, claiming the shirt was offensive to homosexuals. So credit is due to the school for being concerned about expression of potentially homophobic sentiments. But the student was openly gay!

“It’s quite aggravating,” he said. “I can’t wear my shirt because it’s discriminating against gays. … Why would I discriminate against myself?”

So, first of all, excellent shirt, dude. Second of all, what happens to rules and guidelines meant to protect people or groups from discrimination when those people or groups co-opt the very language from which the rules are meant to protect them? Replace “gay” with a racial slur and you see the problem. Funny story on the surface, but it does raise interesting questions.

Music: Cachao (Israel Lopez) :: Club Social do Marianao

One Reply to “Too Gay to Function”

  1. In my opinion, Positive Discrimination is still discrimination.
    Equality cannot be reached when Minorities have the ability to wield more power than the Majority.

    Mind you, the world would be a pretty boring place if people weren’t able to express themselves, but hopefully people would be able to express themselves in more unique ways than Jumping on a Minority Bandwagon. It’s like all the Goths and Punks. “I want to be different to everyone else, so I’ll see what everyone else is doing to be different. Then I’ll just copy them.”

    I blame American TV, glorifying the Gay Stereotype. I know quite a few people who are gay, and they aren’t any different to anyone who isn’t gay. They don’t all have Better Fashion Sense, They are not all Artistically Inclined, and they are not all Sensitive. A Couple of Gay Guys I know are actually utterly selfish Pricks.

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