Vagina in school paper sparks uproar

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Students at a Los Angeles high school have protested after school officials confiscated an issue of the school newspaper that featured a diagram of a vagina.

The special Valentine's Day issue of Grover Cleveland High School's Le Sabre newspaper featured an article on the front page about "The Vagina Monologues," a play by Eve Ensler, that was accompanied by a labeled diagram of a vagina and a hot-pink headline reading: "Happy Vagina Day," the Los Angles Times reported Monday.

The issue caused an instant uproar, and Principal Bob Marks had many of the copies intercepted and confiscated before they could reach classrooms.

"My phone's been ringing off the hook," Marks said. He said he has received numerous complaints from parents offended by the issue -- and one call from a parent upset that the papers had been taken away.

Richard Edmond, 15, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, said the vagina themed issue was aimed at raising awareness about violence against women.

"I didn't think it was going to be that big a deal," Edmond said. "But they are really upset."

Edmond and two other students were sent home from school Friday when they refused to change out of homemade white, black and pink T-shirts reading: "My vagina is obscene."