Peoria, AZ School Reverses Stance; Recognizes Gay Student's Rights

April 21, 2009

Last month I reported on the case of gay 14-year-old Chris Quintanilla and his school principal’s restriction of his free speech rights. Apparently some of the teachers were offended that he had a rainbow wristband on and he was forbidden to wear it.

The same principal had told Chris’s mother earlier in the year that he wouldn’t be bullied abused “if he didn’t put it out there the way he does.”

Well now there’s good news, as the school district has assured the ACLU that young Mr. Quintanilla would be permitted to wear the wristband if he wants.

Peoria Unified School District has assured the American Civil Liberties Union that it will no longer prevent a gay 14-year-old student from wearing a rainbow wristband at school, following an ACLU letter that demanded that the school district rescind its ban on the wristband.

“It’s a good thing that the school has finally realized that it can’t just disregard First Amendment rights of students who are gay,” said Natali Quintanilla, mother of the eighth grader whose wristband was banned. “I’m very proud of my son for standing up for his rights and we both hope this means that other gay students won’t be silenced at his school in the future.”

Quintanilla contacted the ACLU in February after her son Chris’s principal told her he wouldn’t allow her son to wear his cloth wristband with words “Rainbows are gay” to school anymore. Last week, the school finally gave assurances to the ACLU that it would not censor Quintanilla’s wristband in the future.


  • Timothy Roach

    I think that it is great, but I have to say why is it so bad for us in the gay community to show pride in ourselves or our community? If we are 14 or 40 we should have the right just like everyone else.

    • http://blog.mattalgren.com Matt Algren

      The harsh truth is that it isn’t bad, but it challenges the status quo. People hate it when you do that.

  • AzPatriot

    Do you realize that Chris attends Parkridge ELEMENTARY school?? It is a K-8 school. Do you think it is appropriate for a student at an ELEMENTARY school be allowed to advocate any sexual orientation, be it homosexual or heterosexual?? I have three daughters that attend Parkridge (2nd, 4th, and 5th grades) and I will be sending them to school with “I like penis not vagina” t-shirts. When they get sent home, I wonder if the ACLU will stand up for their first amendment rights to free speech.

    • http://blog.mattalgren.com Matt Algren

      Um…yes. Yes, I think it’s appropriate for a student at an elementary school to be allowed to say “I’m gay.”

      That’s not advocacy, it’s normality.

  • AzPatriot

    So you believe that six year old children stating their sexual orientation in school is normality?

    • http://blog.mattalgren.com Matt Algren

      Chris isn’t six, he’s fourteen. He’s in the eighth grade.

  • AzPatriot

    Correct, but he attends a school where there are six year olds, the school is an elementary school with K-8 grades. You previously stated that “Yes, I think it’s appropriate for a student at an elementary school to be allowed to say “I’m gay.”, so you what age is it appropriate for publicly professing your sexual orientation at an elementary school?

    • http://blog.mattalgren.com Matt Algren

      I don’t know why there would be a minimum age, Az. Generally kids don’t know their orientation, whatever it is, at six.

      Let’s turn the question around. At what age is it appropriate to lie about your sexual orientation?

      I would suggest that the answer is that we should never encourage our kids to lie about it.

  • AzPatriot

    I agree, any person regardless of age should not need to lie about their orientation out of fear or shame. My point is that professing any sexual orientation is not appropriate in an elementary school setting where there are kids that are 5, 6, 7 years old and who do not even fully understand what sexual orientation is. If Chris were in a Junior High or High school setting with kids of his age and older, I would not have any problems with him openly professing his sexual orientation. But he is not, he is at a school that has very young children that he can come into contact with, up to 9 years younger than he is, and allowing him to profess and proclaim a sexual orientation by wearing clothing that proclaims his orientation in a setting where there are very young children is wrong.

    • http://blog.mattalgren.com Matt Algren

      What’s your opinion of straight kids dating? Should that be disallowed until they get to high school? Because the mere act of holding hands or making eyes at each other or exchanging notes or a girl writing her name with the boy’s last name is a profession of heterosexuality.

      I guess I don’t understand why you view his expression of who he is as harmful to children. He’s gay, not a zombie, and continuing the stigmatization of homosexuality helps perpetuate the attitude that makes calling a kid ‘gay’ a slur and, not to be too dramatic, leads to violence and even death. And another. And another.

      Children aren’t harmed by knowing that we exist in the same world as them. Children are harmed, however, by being required to keep secrets from their teachers, friends, families, and pastors.

  • AzPatriot

    My personal opinion is that kids should not start dating until around 14 years old, about freshman high school age, but I think it is a parent’s decision to make based on their assesmment of their kids maturity level and responsibility. I have three daughters and they will not be allowed to formally date until 14 when they are in high school and their dates will have to adhere to my rules for dating:

    Rule One:
    If you pull into my driveway and honk you’d better be delivering a package, because you’re sure not picking anything up.

    Rule Two:
    You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter’s body, I will remove the offending hands or eyes.

    Rule Three:
    I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don’t take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose his compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes too big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact, come off during the course of your date with my daughter, I will take my electric staple gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.

    Rule Four:
    I’m sure you’ve been told that in today’s world, sex without utilizing a “barrier method” of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate, when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I will kill you.

    Rule Five:
    It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is “early.”

    Rule Six:
    I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.

    Rule Seven:
    As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process that can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don’t you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car?

    Rule Eight:
    The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there are no parents, policemen, or nuns within eyesight. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka – zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which features chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.

    Rule Nine:
    Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a middle-aged, dim-witted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a .45, a shovel, a four wheel drive and there is a lot of desert in Arizona. Do not trifle with me.

    Rule Ten:
    Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a suicide car bomber at a Baghdad checkpoint. When my post traumatic stress disorder starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit your car with both hands in plain sight. Announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car – there is no need for you to come inside.

    My rules may seem a little strict, but what do expect from a Marine.

    I am not saying that Chris’ expression of his sexual orientation to six year olds will in fact harm them, I’m saying that no one regardless of orientation should be expressing their sexual orientation to kids in an elementary school period.