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YAKIMA — Nine months after revealing to classmates that she had faked her pregnancy for a chief-class project, a Washington state teenager is promoting a new ticket that details the experience and explores her reasons for taking on the project.
Gaby Rodriguez, of Toppenish, Yakima County, earned universal headlines last April when she announced at a high-school assembly that she had ragged a faux baby bump for months to explore stereotypes about teen pregnancy.
Only a bother of people, including her mother, boyfriend and principal, were in on the secret. The hinge of the Toppenish community, where buildings are adorned with Western-themed murals in Pre-eminent Washington's agricultural Yakima Valley, had no clue.
The local newspaper, the Yakima Herald-Republic, published a fib that was then picked up nationally by The Associated Press, and the project drew both approve and criticism. Some people credited her for selflessly committing to her idea and addressing such a serious keynote, while others lashed out at her for lying for a school project.
Source: The Seattle Times