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The Lady and the T-Shirt


gagashirt.JPGKids getting sent home from school to change clothes is hardly a new thing. But it’s not every day—in fact I don’t think I’ve ever heard a story quite like this one—that an adolescent gets an online shout-out from the rock star who got him into trouble in the first place.

According to MTV News, 15-year-old Cole Goforth was recently told by officials at Tennessee’s Greenbriar High School that he needed to find something to wear other than the “I [Heart] Lady Gay Gay” t-shirt he came to school with that day.

Goforth, an openly gay teen, believes he was unfairly discriminated against, and his mother agreed. She told WSMV news in Nashville that the school violated her son’s right to free speech. She also noted that other kids regularly wear shirts with messages others might take issue with, be they religious slogans or Confederate flags.

But here’s where a fairly familiar story takes an unexpected turn. Lady Gaga herself got wind of the controversy and Twittered about it from the studio and while on tour in Australia. In one tweet, she wrote, “Thank u for wearing your tee-shirt proud at your school, you make me so proud, at the monsterball, you are an inspiration to us all. I love you.” Another post reiterated that message: “I love you, Cole, you just be yourself. You’re perfect the way God made you.”

For their part, school officials say that the decision regarding Goforth’s shirt apparently had to do with a similar incident the previous week that led to a fight. If a student’s clothing is deemed disruptive, they said, they ask that student to change clothes. “We’ve had a few disruptions the last few days,” said Danny Weeks, assistant director of the school board, “and we thought the slogan on that shirt would continue to escalate those incidents that had occurred.”

I think the story got my attention because it combines several of our culture’s current hot-button issues—free speech, homosexuality, bullying—and adds a distinctly 21st-century overlay. I mean, I remember kids getting sent home from my high school to change out of problematic Guns N’ Roses T-shirts back in the day. But did Axl Rose ever chime in personally to voice his support? Nope. That’s a new thing.

More than ever in our culture, celebrities are becoming active participants in discussions like these—to the point of showing their personal, individual approval of fans who support their controversial causes. Given the ubiquity of social networking, I think we can expect to see more stories like this in the future, as Internet-savvy stars like Gaga weigh in on  the controversies that they’ve helped stir up.