Sometimes it's the stories that don't hit the headlines that tell the tale of the low-level discrimination that impacts the lives of gays and lesbians across the US.
A Californian woman, Lapriss Gilbert, 31, stopped by a government building in Van Nuys to collect a social security card for her son. Ms Gilbert is a lesbian, and happened to be wearing a lesbian.com shirt.
A guard from Paragon Security took offense at her T-shirt and ejected her from the building. He reportedly told Ms Gilbert that he had 'jurisdiction over her clothing' under the Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal property.
This type of harassment is no one-off deal. It is commonplace. It certainly wasn't the first time Lapriss Gilbert has had to deal with it:
"As an African-American and a lesbian, I haven't been through one day without facing some sort of discrimination … but this is just shocking."
You can make the argument that people who politicize their clothing with signage are looking for attention, negative or otherwise, and so shouldn't be surprised when it comes their way. But when access to a Federal building is denied because a security man is offended by your T-shirt, it amounts to a denial of a basic right. If Ms Lapriss had been wearing a 'straight evangelical.com' T-shirt, it's less likely her visit to a Federal building would have made the news.
A Californian woman, Lapriss Gilbert, 31, stopped by a government building in Van Nuys to collect a social security card for her son. Ms Gilbert is a lesbian, and happened to be wearing a lesbian.com shirt.
A guard from Paragon Security took offense at her T-shirt and ejected her from the building. He reportedly told Ms Gilbert that he had 'jurisdiction over her clothing' under the Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal property.
This type of harassment is no one-off deal. It is commonplace. It certainly wasn't the first time Lapriss Gilbert has had to deal with it:
"As an African-American and a lesbian, I haven't been through one day without facing some sort of discrimination … but this is just shocking."
You can make the argument that people who politicize their clothing with signage are looking for attention, negative or otherwise, and so shouldn't be surprised when it comes their way. But when access to a Federal building is denied because a security man is offended by your T-shirt, it amounts to a denial of a basic right. If Ms Lapriss had been wearing a 'straight evangelical.com' T-shirt, it's less likely her visit to a Federal building would have made the news.
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