All tag results for 'aclu'

Melissa Etheridge has always been very vocal about her support for legalizing marijuana, and she’s at it again.

The breast cancer survivor penned an open letter after reading a report from the ACLU called The War on Marijuana in Black and White: Billions of Dollars Wasted on Racially Biased Arrests.

The report documents the lopsided numbers among different races in drug-related arrests.

The singer sums up what she took away from the report in her lengthy letter, which states:

Tags: aclu, drugs, legal matters, legalize marijuana, melissa etheridge, politik, the war on marijuana in black and white billions of dollars wasted on racially biased arrests

Whatever it takes to put an end to such AWFUL behavior in schools!

Check out the video (above) about a high school freshman who was badly beaten up by another student because of his sexuality.

When the student and his mother contacted school officials, they refused to help, and now the ACLU has taken on the case.

We're glad to hear that the ACLU is supporting this student, but we seriously need anti-bullying laws to be instated in the United States and abroad to stop this once and for all!

As we've said many times before……. #makealawforjamey

Tags: aclu, anti gay bullying, awful, bullying, high school freshman, makealawforjamey, ohio, school, sexuality, video

This is absolutely horrific. And DISGUSTING.

How on Earth are we supposed to teach our youth to stop bullying if our school ADMINISTRATORS can't even do the same?!

Chris Sigler, a 17-year-old senior at Sequoyah High School in Tennessee, was apparently shoved and verbally harrassed by his own PRINCIPAL last week after he refused to take off a shirt that he had made promoting the establishment of a gay-straight alliance club on campus!

Principal Maurice Moser has apparently threatened to punish students attempting to circulating petitions about the club, and when Sigler wore a homemade T-shirt to school that read: GSA: We've Got Your Back, he was asked to take it off. The young man knew that he had a right to wear it, so he did on the following Friday, and this time refused to take it off.

Moser reportedly then

Tags: aclu, amanda goad, assault, awful, chris sigler, denied, deplorable, disgusting, executive director, gay straight alliance, harrass, hedy weinberg, legal matters, principal maurice moser, promotion, sequoyah high school, student, tennessee, unacceptable, verbal harassment

Megan Fox must be jealous!

Shepard Fairey, who painted the iconic Obama portrait for the 2008 election, created an image of Olivia Wilde to help out her ACLU campaign to give a voice to the underprivileged.

Said Olivia:

“I believe we have to judge our society not by how we treat the privileged and the empowered, but by how we treat the silenced, the condemned, the undocumented, and all those whose views and rights are deemed inconvenient. The ACLU works tirelessly to uphold the promise of the Constitution, and I am proud to support their courageous and necessary work.”

She’s an inspiration!

Now, if only Shepard Fairey would paint a portrait of Perez…

Tags: aclu, campaign, portrait, rights

Good for her!

As we previously reported, Ceara Sturgis' senior photo was rejected from the yearbook because she wore a tux - and now she's gonna teach the school a lesson!

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit for Ceara claiming discrimination in the basis of sex and gender stereotypes. The lawsuit alleges a violation of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting discrimination based on gender.

Christine P. Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project said:

"Inclusion in the senior yearbook is a rite of passage for students, and it is shameful that Ceara was denied that chance. It's unfair and unlawful to force students to conform to outdated notions about what boys and girls should look like without any regard to who they actually are as people."

We wish her luck! Equality for all!!!

Tags: aclu, ceara sturgis

Nothing surprises us anymore!

In a despicable move by the Copiah County School District in Mississippi, lesbian student Ceara Sturgis was not included in the school's 2010 yearbook.

The senior photo she submitted wearing a tuxedo was denied!

"They didn't even put her name in it," said Ceara's mother Veronica Rodriguez. "I was so furious when she told me about it. Ceara started crying and I told her to suck it up. Is that not pathetic for them to do that? Yet again, they have crapped on her and made her feel alienated."

The Mississippi ACLU wrote a letter in October demanding the school use the submitted photo, but officials would not relent. But her mother did expect a reference to her daughter on the senior page, yet she discovered that they refused to acknowledge her existence.

Ceara's mother continued:

"It's like she's nobody there, even though she's gone to school there for 12 years. They mentioned none of her accolades, even though she's one of the smartest students there with wonderful grades. They've got kids in the book that have been busted for drugs. There's even a picture of one of the seniors who dropped out of school. I don't get it. Ceara is a top student. Why would they do this to her?"

She basically grew up here, but she feels so isolated. And it's not the students. The students love and accept her," Rodriguez said. "The kids even nominated her for prom queen, but she ducked out, knowing the officials would never let her be prom queen."

It's not know whether the victim will take any legal action.

Stay strong, Ceara!

Tags: aclu, ceara sturgis, mississippi, yearbook