Lesbian parents start MoveOn.org petition over 14-year-old son's makeup at school

The lesbian parents of a 14-year-old boy have started a MoveOn.org petition after their son was asked to remove the lipstick, black eyeliner and eye shadow he wore to Meadowlawn Middle School in St. Petersburg, Florida. The student, Chris Martin, was also also asked to change out of a shirt emblazoned with an anarchy symbol.

The incident occurred last week on the eighth-grader's last day of school, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

Not long after Martin got to school, school officials informed him that he was in violation of the dress code.

Martin's two mothers, Jamie Himes and Katelynn Martin, were okay with the decision to forbid the shirt but livid that the eighth-grade boy was not permitted to wear the same cosmetics many eighth-grade girls wear regularly.

Martin, who has allegedly been victimized in previous bullying incidents at school, has not publicly declared his sexual orientation, notes the Times.

Full article at the link



Free To Be You And Me? Boy Punished For Wearing Makeup To School

A fourteen-year-old Florida boy named Chris Martin was chastised recently for wearing makeup to school, an event that has raised questions about gender conformity and tolerance within school systems. Martin, who does not define his sexual orientation, decided to wear eyeliner, eyeshadow, and lipstick to his last day of classes — with the consent of his mothers, who didn't think twice when he asked them to help with his makeup application. "More than anything, I was happy to see him so confident in expressing himself," says Katelynn Martin.

So, you can imagine her surprise when Chris called her to report that he had been reprimanded by the principal of his school for his getup, which apparently broke the school's dress code. Ms. Martin's theory is that her son was discriminated against for his sexual preference (or lack thereof): "In my opinion, the principal was not passing judgement upon my son's appearance, but rather his person." In response to Chris' ordeal, his moms have started a petition at Moveon.org that they hope will make life at school easier for LBGTQ teens.

Full article at the link

That's crazy, he looks perfectly presentable for a day at school in makeup (especially compared with what me and my male friends used to wear to school without incident). It's regrettable that administrators make dress codes in part to avoid "distractions" during the school day, but then they just use the code and make a distraction themselves. 

For me, one word explains the whole thing, "Florida."  From Florida through to Arizona, there seems to be a zone of intolerance and hatred.