New Jersey Teen Reacts to Punishment for Wearing THE PROM T-Shirt to School

As BroadwayWorld reported last week, New Jersey middle schooler and her mother are fighting back after the student was punished for wearing a t-shirt from Broadway's The Prom to school.

Justice Cillo-Smith was issued a dress code violation after wearing a souvenir shirt from the musical sporting the phrase, "We Are All Lesbians" to school.

The school's guidance counselor pointed to rules that prohibit "inappropriate language and hate speech" on school grounds as the reason for the violation. The school's principal explained the school's decision to the student's mother, Gwen Wu, stating that the shirt was "disruptive to the learning environment" and could potentially lead to the student becoming a target for harassment.

Now, according to NorthJersey.com, Justice, who identifies as a lesbian, is making light of the situation and revealed that several students have come out as gay to her in the wake of the incident. "I'm happy because I like inspiring other people," she says."Whether it's big things or just little things like that, that me being who I am makes other people want to be who they are."

The hit musical The Prom tells the story of a gay student who is unceremoniously sidelined from a small-town Indiana prom. When some Broadway stars and and the press get involved, the teen and her most fabulous supporters take on the town to kick-ball-change the world and build a prom for everyone.

The musical, which closed on Broadway this summer, is set to hit Netflix in 2020 in an all-star film adaptation from Ryan Murphy.