Girl sent home for 'vagina' T-shirt

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NEW YORK, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old New York high school student said her free speech rights were violated when she was sent home for wearing a T-shirt reading, "I enjoy vagina."

Brianna Demato said she wore the T-shirt -- styled after the "Enjoy Coke" logo -- to Newton High School Tuesday and was sent home when she refused the assistant principal's demand that she change shirts, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

"It's hypocritical," said the teenager, who said she has worn the shirt to school several times in the past. "They use the word in class -- why can't I, on a shirt?"

Cathy Demato, Brianna's mother, said she went to the school to defend her daughter, but the assistant principal had both of them escorted from the premises.

"They're discriminating against Brianna. They pulled her out of class for nothing," the mother said. "She's not hurting anyone. It's her right to wear that shirt."

The city Education Department said the mother and teen were not kicked out of the school, but rather left on their own.

"The language on the shirt was likely to cause disruption and the language is inappropriate for school," department spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said.