To show support for her cousin, eleventh-grade student Heather Gillman wore a rainbow belt and a T-shirt that said "I support gays" to school. As grounds for the suspensions, Davis alleged that the students belonged to a "secret society" or "illegal organization", had threatened to walk out of a school assembly, and had disrupted the school. On Friday, September 21, 2007, and Monday, September 24, 2007, Davis suspended eleven students, including Heather's cousin, for five school days each for their involvement in exhibiting pro-gay messages. One of the questioned students was plaintiff Heather Gillman's cousin.
![gay pride shirt abington gay pride shirt abington](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/2019/06/20/NBEE/ghows-OK-69b9cdcf-bfca-43d0-be89-2dddc0d7f2d3-ae1504ad.jpeg)
In the days following the assembly, Davis called in the students who were displaying pro-gay messages to ask them about their sexual orientations and instruct them not to wear rainbow belts or to write "GP" or "gay pride" on their arms or notebooks. When the rumored "morality assembly" did occur on September 12, 2007, no students walked out. In response to a rumor that Davis had invited an anti-gay preacher to speak at the school, the group of students discussed walking out of the assembly in protest.
![gay pride shirt abington gay pride shirt abington](https://5pillarsuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/shutterstock_2023993754-scaled-e1645625804436.jpg)
To show support for the student who complained, a group of students began to write "GP," "gay pride," and other pro-gay slogans on their arms, clothing, and book binders. The student reported that Davis told her being gay was wrong and she should not advertise her sexual orientation. In early September 2007, a lesbian student at Ponce de Leon High School in Ponce de Leon, Florida, reported anti-gay harassment from fellow students to the school's principal, David Davis.