The less explicit version of the "DTF" shirt Sebastiani saw.
/ Lisa Edge
Ocean Boulevard in the downtown area of Myrtle Beach is a draw for tourists, families and teenagers alike. Greg Sebastiani says during a recent trip to the area with friends he was met with language written on a t-shirt that he calls obscene.
"We were maybe three or four blocks north of the Skywheel, where the Skywheel now is on Ocean Boulevard, and two groups of young males came by with black t-shirts, very bright white lettering, that had what their reason was for coming to the MB area." He continued, "It was graphic. There was no guessing involved, no asterisks, it just said basically we are here for this purpose."
He's referring to a more explicit version of a shirt with the acronym "DTF" coined by the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore. The "D" stands for down, the "T" stands for to, and the "F" stands for an expletive that's sexual in nature.
"It was what the community considers obscene, and I don't feel it's appropriate. If we had children with us, I would've been much more embarrassed. How do you hide yourself from that if it's right there in front of you? There's no getting away from it," added Sebastiani.
At many of the shops on the Boulevard, other four letter words on clothing can easily be seen when you walk by. Some might call it vulgar, but it's not illegal. The city has an ordinance restricting where graphic sexual acts on shirts can be placed in stores, but words are not a violation.
"If we get a complaint about it from a parent or anybody, we'll go up to that person that's wearing the shirt and say, 'Hey listen, somebody has complained about this shirt that you're wearing. Could you please comply and maybe turn it inside out or something like that?'" said Capt. David Knipes. He continued, "It's something that's been going on for a long time. There's been shirts like that out there for many, many years. It's not very prevalent. We do try to address when we see it."
"I think parents with younger children in particular might not return to that area if they were confronted with that," said Sebastiani
He goes on to say he supports the First Amendment, but says shirts like the one he saw are inappropriate and don't belong.
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