In Brief

Newtown H. S., Queens, New York

Bi-Sexual Student Sent Home After Refusing To Change Out Of Shirt That Reads  'I enjoy vagina' 

QUEENS, NEW YORK -- A Queens high school sophomore Brianna Demato, 15, who self identifies as bisexual, was sent home Tuesday, after school administrators deemed that the “I enjoy vagina” T-shirt she was wearing was a distraction.

Demato refused to change out of the shirt as the school officials insisted she do citing her first amendment rights to free speech were being violated. According to Demato, she has worn the “Enjoy Coke”- font style T-shirt to Newtown High School in Queens, where she is enrolled, at least a dozen times previously.

In an interview with the NY Daily News, Demato said;

“They use the word in class — why can’t I, on a shirt?” 

Demato told the paper she was hauled into an assistant principal’s office after a dean spotted the message written on her cherry-red shirt during a lunch period. She was given a choice: Change the shirt or go home.

She refused to change, so a dean called her mother — but Brianna’s mom, Cathy Demato, took her daughter’s side. She rushed to school to defend her child — and make a point. “They’re discriminating against Brianna. They pulled her out of class for nothing,” seethed Demato, 39. “She’s not hurting anyone. It’s her right to wear that shirt.” Demato told administrators her daughter’s vagina shirt should stay — but they disagreed. The irate mom said a dean called school safety agents to escort them off campus. Later, school officials told Demato that if she gave her daughter a different shirt, the girl would be allowed to return to class. ~ NY Daily News 

Her angry mother vowed she's not going to back down. “[Wednesday] she’s wearing a shirt that says ‘I’m the B---h From Down the Block,’ ” Cathy Demato said. “The message is, she can wear whatever she wants.” 

While Newtown High Principal John Ficalora declined to comment, a spokesperson for New York City Schools, Margie Feinberg said that school officials have the authority to keep the girl out of class for as long as they want, if they disagree with her outfit. “The language on the shirt was likely to cause disruption and the language is inappropriate for school,” said Feinberg.

Majority of Latinos In Favor Of Same-Sex Marriage

MIAMI, FLORIDA -- A new poll from NBC Latino/IBOPE Zogby released Wednesday finds that 60% of Latinos surveyed support same-sex marriage equality. The survey says 6 out of 10 Latinos in the sample agree that same-sex couples have the right to marry. Thirty eight percent said they disagree and 31 percent said they did so strongly.

The statistics don’t mean there is complete acceptance of gays by Latinos, however. When it came to the biggest disappointment a parent would feel regarding their children, 43 percent said it would be if their child became a drug addict. Going to prison was the biggest disappointment for 33 percent of those surveyed. But 10 percent said having a gay child would be their biggest issue, while only 5 percent said a teen pregnancy would be their greatest disappointment.