T-shirt gets Van Nuys woman kicked out of federal building

reply to post by mythatsabigprobe

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No I would not be offended by that at all. I would explain that what other people wear is not any ones business as long it is within the law.

And as far as your children learning something when they want to learn it, is just not how the world works. When did you ever as a child have the right to choose what you learned?? When a child is exposed to something and questions it, it is the parents duty to inform them to the best of their knowledge without objection. At least thats how it is in my home. Let the children make their own opinion.

It was actually illegal in my state and many others up until 2003. In Idaho the penalty for homosexual acts was 5 years to life imprisonment.

And women only received the right to vote recently. I'm not talking about what was....yesterday, last week or last year. We are talking about the here and now. Today, August 27th. I was recently in Tobago, homosexuality is still illegal there.

I got a chuckle from this, some years back a buddy of mine came along to the court house with me. (I was getting a copy of my sons birth certificate) Well my friend was told to go to the restroom and turn his shirt inside out or wait outside. It said "Fornicate". We both laughed it off, and he waited outside.

My kids got the whole "gay & lesbian" talk early as my sister in law is a lesbian, and she is one of those "in your face" types.

I don't want to appear hitting below the belt, but...

Am I the only one here that finds it ironic that the very person arguing against any sexual reference in a public manner chose the screen name "mythatsabigprobe"???

Just sayin' is all.





[edit on 27-8-2008 by loam]

reply to post by loam

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It's been mentioned already. And yes it is funny, but you know that whole alien probe thing...

As for your other points, as usual, your educated and reasoned response leaves no room for debate. Bugger..

Really? I missed that.





That's actually very nice of you.

Thank you.

I truly don't understand what the uproar is about. I often wear a black "Hustler" t-shirt (little tag on the cuff of the sleeve that says "Hardcore since '74).....the print on the back sums up my feelings on the matter...."Relax, it's just sex"

reply to post by mythatsabigprobe

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Mythatsabigprobe as a username is more offensive that the word lesbian ever will be to an educated person. There is more to being a lesbian or to being homosexual than sex. They also love people of the same sex in the way a heterosexual relationship would work, but too many people cant see past the sex. Are you also offended that a man and another man might live together in a loving relationship even if said relation had no sexual ties. Let us know big probe.

What a wonderfully rounded collection of responses!

R_E_Dog! That had me absolutely ROLLING! thank you!!! Even now, I have to restrain myself to not add onto that delightful gerund.

BlueTriangle, I hear you. To me it was a simpler, more innocent, less Macheiavellan time, in which millions of gays and lesbians also shared. I remember it fondly, but don't miss it. m'Mom told me to look back fondly but never stare.

AnOmaly, WOW! I would be willing to wager you are an exceptional parent.

Just zipping through here, winding down from storm preps

funny, it's about time like something like this happens. It's too often i hear about christianity offending someone else. This means that anything can offend anyone, and everyone should be fair game to anyone. that's all

Sorry that I only had time to read the first few posts at the moment, so I'm not sure if this has already been said. But in a nutshell, the security guard can tell the woman to leave for just about any reason the guard wants to. Like it or not, for better or for worse. In some respects, a security guard has more power and authority even than the police, though not the same civil protections.



(Source: Wikipedia)





[edit on 8/27/0808 by jackinthebox]

www.tshirthell.com...

If you're offended by www.lesbian.com shirt then check this site out.

Even better, one of the shirts...

"How dare I wear this God **** shirt in front of your ****ing kids!"

Classic.

Anyways, for mythatsabigprobe and other homophobes MOVE TO THE MIDDLE EAST WHERE THEY EXECUTE GAYS! You'll be much happier then living in a free country.

This reminds me of a sista, I used to work with, who came to work one day in a male/female mfg environment, wearing a t-shirt that said;

f-paying the rent, f-paying the gas, f-paying th electric etc etc etc

except it spelled out the whole "f" word. .......

And the whole shirt was covered in it. Nobody could believe she had the nerve to wear something like that to work.

yes, she was a bit flakey..

she WAS the talk of the plant for a cpl days ..

oh yeah, she was told to cover it up, with a light jacket they had, if she wanted to stay or she could go home to change tops.

Uhm, I am confused, because opposite sex couples display their sexual preferences every single day every single second somewhere in the world. What "society" does not take kindly to is people showing sexual preferences that are NOT in the "status quo" category ie: male/female

They do this by...holding hands, kissing, dancing, touching each other etc etc etc. Do you find that offensive? When a man and his wife are walking through the park holding hands, they are "advertising" their "sexual preference". But because that is the "status quo" no one cares or even thinks twice about it.

What you mean to say is that when someone advertises/displays sexual preferences that do not meet the status quo society doesn't take kindly to them displaying their preferences in public.

I view this as hypocrisy. I can display my sexual preferences, and you can too, so long as they are the same as mine. If your preferences are different than mine, then I claim you are being offensive and holler about how that "harms" my child, while lumping it into categories that are truly abhorrent such as molestation etc.

Now, I think if she had been advertising a site for heterosexuality, she would not have had a problem, even though the words "sexuality" and "sex" would have been on the shirt.

But, it only interferes with your daily life if you stand their "gawking" and making a big deal out of. I can guarantee you that. You don't want to know someones sexual preferences? Then why are you not complaining about the strangers showing their sexual preferences in public places who are heterosexual? Oh yeah, cause its the same preference as yours. OH MY GOD your children know your sexual preference and they know the sexual preferences of pretty much everyone you hang with, you have damaged them. You better blindfold them and lock them in a room without tv, or radio or anything, cause people "advertise" their sexual preferences every single second of the day.

I don't have an issue with the word or what it may mean ( as a citizen of some island country or a sexual term ).
Why it made such a big deal is what is puzzling. This lady walked into a FEDERAL office, which I have been in a few times and have noticed signs all over that basically say what can / can't be done.

The "Rent-a-Cop" may have very well been a federal employee. I doubt the word / shirt offended him. He's probably just doing his job as stated by his employer.

As I read in another reply here, I too have seen a lot more offensive t-shirts ( and bodies ) than something that said that. It may have been over the line, but certainly not the first time someone has been asked to leave or change for clothing they were wearing.

Looks like this security guard just might have a reprimand in his future.

www.latimes.com...

Woman forced from fed building for lesbian shirt
From the Associated Press
7:30 AM PDT, August 27, 2008

LOS ANGELES -- A woman wearing a T-shirt promoting lesbianism said she was forced the leave a federal building Monday by a security guard who didn't approve of her attire.

Lapriss Gilbert said she was picking up a Social Security card for her son when the guard was offended by her "lesbian.com" shirt and threatened her with arrest.

She was eventually allowed inside after her mother called police, according to a Los Angeles Daily News story.

The guard, whose name was not immediately available, works for Paragon Security, which contracts with the Department of Homeland Security.

Lori Haley, a spokeswoman within the Homeland Security Department, said the guard's actions were inappropriate and unacceptable.

"We have notified his company, Paragon, of our position in the matter," Haley said.

A message left with Paragon Security was not immediately returned Monday night.

Gilbert said the guard cited a document, the Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property, as proof he had jurisdiction over her clothing. The document does not address what type of clothing is allowed in federal buildings.

Gilbert called the guard's actions "shocking."

"As an African-American and a lesbian, I haven't been through one day without facing some sort of discrimination," Gilbert said.

Her mother called police after Gilbert was kicked out, but another security guard escorted her to the front of the Social Security line before officers arrived, the Daily News reported.

According to a police report, a witness described Gilbert as "peaceful and quiet" before the guard told her to leave.