“The Brevard County School Board tweaked its dress code policy to remove the word “Gothic” this week. That was a judicious move. No other group of students is listed in the policy. Hip-hop and jock styles also break the dress code, but their groups aren’t singled out for censure by name. Branding Goths as somehow dangerous was unfair and unneeded … school administrators should be careful to apply dress code policies fairly for all groups, from the star athletes to Wiccan kids.”

Facial piercings and “extreme” facial makeup are still banned, but “goth” clothing itself is no longer banned. The compromise that may make life easier for Amaris Mulhauser, who claimed that her style of dress was an outgrowth of her Wiccan religious practice.

A Canadian Witch-Hunt: The Halifax Daily News follows up with some local Pagans in the wake of attacks and harassment towards local Witch Shauna Cook and her friends.

“Earlier this month, a Halifax hedge-witch and her two pagan friends were attacked leaving her home, leading her to decide she must leave the city for the safety of her children. The woman said she has been repeatedly targeted because of her religion. Imagine if the violence had been directed at Jews leaving a synagogue, or Muslims leaving a mosque. Would Haligonians tolerate such an attack? … Vanessa Smith of Little Mysteries on Barrington Street says the attack was doubly unfortunate – because of the pain caused to those attacked, and because it does not reflect the Halifax she knows. “Halifax is a very open city,” she says, and most Wiccans practice in peace.”

Another local Witch interviewed says that her children also face harassment for their religious views, but that she is happier being “out” about her beliefs, and that “Witches are the new gays – and we’re finally coming out.” As for Shauna Cook, you can get a fuller picture of the situation leading to her move by reading the two comments made on this blog by a local friend.

Raping With Impunity: Back in April I reported on a recently released Amnesty International report that revealed shocking levels of outsider rape being perpetrated on American Indian and Alaska Native women. This past Thursday, members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee heard the testimony of Native women in hopes of creating legislation towards eliminating legal red tape that hinders many investigations of rape and similar crimes.

“Jami Rozell, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, testified that she was brutally raped but decided not to press charges after a series of lawyers and officials told her she would be “raped again” by the justice system. She told senators that several months after the crime, when she summoned the courage to press charges, she was told all of the evidence had been destroyed. “I have not been able to stand up for myself until now,” she said.”

You can read the testimonies of the participants, here. Sadly, rape isn’t the only problem facing Native women in our country, beatings and harassment from non-Natives is still an all-too-common occurrence as evidenced by the recent case in which a teenage girl was beaten and then harassed by white supremacists in Idaho. Hopefully the Senate can indeed “streamline” the maze of injustice facing Natives in our country.
]]> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/09/updates-on-past-stories-2.html/feed 0 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/09/when-religion-and-subculture-collide.html http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/09/when-religion-and-subculture-collide.html#comments Sun, 16 Sep 2007 13:56:00 +0000 Jason Pitzl-Waters http://patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/09/when-religion-and-subculture-collide.html Florida Today profiles some local goth teens who are fighting an anti-goth clothing ban enforced by Brevard Public Schools.

“Amaris is one of about 30 students trying to change the district’s dress code policy, which they believe is outdated and curtails their freedom of expression. The students went before the school board this week to argue their case … Brevard Public Schools’ dress code policy specifically prohibits Gothic-style clothing or accessories, citing that such gear is tied to ‘violent or death oriented themes.’”

Of special note, one of the teens leading the effort, Amaris Mulhauser, claims that removing her goth clothing infringes on her religious rights.

“Amaris — a soft-spoken sophomore who said she’d never been suspended and had never received a grade lower than a C — argues she has a right to her style of dress. She said her clothing is part of her Wiccan religion, a neo-pagan, Earth-centered faith. ‘I get pulled out of classes, stopped in the hallways, all because they say our makeup is a distraction,’ Amaris, who signs the ‘A’ in her name with the anarchy symbol, told the Brevard County School Board. ‘I think basically it is a ploy against people who are different. I am very tired of the unfair treatment that we’ve been given.’”

While some might be quick to disregard her claims, the intermingling of the goth subculture with Pagan belief has been steadily on the rise, and if her beliefs are sincere, the law is on her side. I think Brock on the Non-Fluffy Pagans community best encapsulates why religious claims like this are important.

“…there is a REALLY strong current here of “The way you are practicing Wicca in public is different from the way I choose to practice it, and I find the way you do it to be personally embarrassing, so it’s okay for the civil authorities to make you stop.” I don’t like it much. What it boils down to is ceding to the civil authorities the right to define what is and is not proper Wiccan practice. That’s an awfully dangerous road to go down, if you think about it. Frankly, I think equating extreme Goth dress with lots of bad makeup to an essential part of Wiccan practice is stupid. But if the young lady in question sincerely believes that it is necessary to the proper practice of her religion we ought to be supporting her, not condemning her. From a political point oif view, to do otherwise is stupid. Any act which diminishes individual religious liberty will ultimately have an adverse effect of the practice of all minority religions, including all of the Pagan ones.”

So if we are serious about our religious freedoms, we need to defend them completely. Even the kids who dress like goths for religious reasons, or paint pentacles on their cheeks for Beltane. If we can’t protect the religious freedoms of those we might label as foolish or alienated, there is no guarantee we will be able to protect any of our number.
]]> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2007/09/when-religion-and-subculture-collide.html/feed 3