Judge Rules Student Had No “Right” to Wear Anti-Gay T-shirt at School
- On April 21, 2004, some students at Poway High held a “Day of Silence†designed to draw attention to harassment of gay and lesbian students.
- [Chase] Harper put masking tape on a T-shirt and wrote “I Will Not Accept What God Has Condemned†on the front and “Homosexuality Is Shameful, Romans 1:27†on the back.
- The sophomore wore the shirt again the next day, changing the word on the front to “Be Ashamed, Our School Embraced What God Condemned.â€
- A teacher said the shirt was in violation of the school’s dress code and asked him to take it off. When Harper refused, he was sent to the office, where he spent the rest of the day.
Harper sued Poway school officials claiming his right to free speech was violated. The Union-Tribune reports U.S. District Judge John A. Houston ruled yesterday that “the school’s actions didn’t infringe on students’ rights of free speech, free exercise of religion, nor were they hostile to a particular religious viewpoint.” Harper’s attorney promises to appeal.
Fascinating case. I can’t wait to see how this comes out; I wonder if the Supreme Court will grant cert on the appeals court decision upon which this judge relied.
This case could go either way. I see the arguments of both sides. Freedom of speech is to be protected, ahem, religiously. OTOH, the schools absolutely should have a right to protect their students from harrassment based on their race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, etc.