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Local Printer Refuses Gay Rights T-Shirt
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Bailee Webb never thought she’d be at the center of controversy.
But that’s exactly where the 17-year-old Blue Springs South senior who dreams of going to Harvard found herself after she tried to get t-shirts printed for her school club – Gay Straight Alliance.
“Every other club at our school has their own t-shirts and so we decided to get our own,” said Bailee.
As the GSA president she was responsible for coming up with the design which read, “why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?”
“We wanted something that started people talking and thinking about why it is in our culture we’re more used to seeing violence than love,” said Bailee.
What happened next shocked Bailee; the business she found to print the GSA t-shirts chose not to.
“I was angry at first,” said Bailee. “I had to step back and cool down.”
This is not the first time Rod’s Sports and Apparel has denied the request to print a t-shirt. Rod Lindemann said young people often approach him with racy slogans and it’s he who decides if they make it to the printer.
Lindemann said while he’s a Christian and doesn’t fully support homosexuality, it wasn’t his faith that made him decide not to print the shirts. He said it was the message that compared holding hands to service men and women fighting for freedom.
“We live in a country where we all have freedom to speak out,” said Lindemann. “I fully respect it, I respect what their club does with the Gay Straight Alliance. We all do need to come together. However, the very freedoms we’re executing through this are the same two men holding guns and risking their lives.”
Webb has had some time to cool down and while she doesn’t support Lindemann’s decision, she accepts it.
“I understand where he’s coming from,” she said. “He has the right to his beliefs as much as I do. I respect him for that.”
Bailee found another t-shirt maker to print her t-shirts with the message she wanted. She’s selling them to support GSA. If you’d like to buy one, email Terra.Hall@wdaftv4.com.
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