Poway Unified School District is facing a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, June 2, by a high school student claiming the school violated his first amendment rights to free speech when he was suspended for wearing a shirt proclaiming “Homosexuality is Shameful”. The incident last week attracted the attention of the local TV news networks, and resulted in a press conference held by the student and his attorney on Thursday, June 3, at Poway High School.

The student, Tyler Chase Harper, initially wore the shirt in protest of the school’s observance of the National Day of Silence, an annual protest where students take a vow of silence to represent GLBT students who don’t have a voice or representation in their school. Harper used masking tape and a black marker to make the shirt that read “Be Ashamed. Our school has embraced what God has condemned” across the front of it and “Homosexuality is shameful. Romans 1:27” across the back of the shirt. School administrators warned Harper that the shirt violated the school’s dress code, which prohibits homemade shirts with slogans or messages as well as clothing and accessories that promote or portray “violence or hate behavior including derogatory connotations directed towards sexual identity.”

Harper wore a similar shirt the following day, and school officials met with him and informed him that he had to remove the shirt or face an in-school suspension for the day. Harper refused to remove the shirt and was removed from classes for the rest of the day.

“I’m appalled that my school would take such a sensitive issue, something so controversial and they would only allow one side of it to be given and they would only allow one side of it to be publicized and they promote that,” Harper said at the press conference. “Yet, any opposing viewpoint is silenced. I presented a message that was scriptural, from the Bible, biblical teachings. Bear in mind it is Christianity, but it is in the Bible, Romans 1, and when I wore it on my T-shirt and when I was told I could not, I could not express my views and my beliefs in a way others had and I didn’t feel like I was an American anymore.”

The suit against the school was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian advocacy organization that argued against the same-sex marriages performed in San Francisco earlier this year. In a statement on its website, the group claims to defend “religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and traditional family values.”

“This case is about the First Amendment and basically what we have is tolerance run amok,” said Robert Tyler of the Alliance Defense Fund. “These schools, in the guise of diversity and tolerance, have come forward and attempted to bring political correctness and require political correctness out of Chase Harper and other students at this school. We in turn are demanding that Poway High School and Poway School District engage in constitutionally correct behavior not politically correct actions. We brought this lawsuit to defend the First Amendment liberties of Chase Harper to exercise his religious speech and in order to challenge the policies of the school district.”

The school administration has defended its dress code and hate speech policy in a written statement which reads: “Nothing is more important to the Poway Unified School District than providing all of our students with a safe learning environment and their welfare is of our greatest concern. We are proud of the achievements that have taken place at Poway High School and we are going to be working with legal counsel as this unfolds through the legal process. During that time, we will continue our primary focus on providing all students with a high quality education.” Under advice from their legal counsel, Poway School District officials chose not to respond to specific questions.

In similar cases across the country, students have alleged that school officials have violated their free speech rights for banning shirts with statements like “Barbie is a Lesbian” (in which the T-shirt wearer garnered a $30,000 settlement from her school), and a recent case in Utah involving a student who wore the anti-smoking slogan “Queers Kick Ash”.

When asked for comment on these students’ First Amendment rights, Tyler responded, “The U.S. Constitution is very clearly articulated that students have this right of free speech. Now if the students engage in activity that substantially disrupts the responsibility of the school for education, then that type of speech is not protected. We’re not here to try to say our speech is protected, religious speech is protected, but no one else’s viewpoint’s protected. That’s not our position. We believe that all speech is protected as required by the Constitution.”

The suit has been met with mixed reactions in the GLBT community and amongst its allies. For years the ACLU has fought to insure that freedom of speech is guaranteed for all forms of expression, not only those that are deemed politically correct.

“Taken out of context we might have a different view of the Alliance Defense Fund’s suit than if we are able to put it in context,” said local attorney Bridget Wilson who has met with students from Poway High School regarding harassment in the school, prior to this incident. “In most situations, anyone who knows me knows that I am going to fall heavily in favor of free speech because I think it benefits us. I think limits on free speech have been used [more often] against gay people than in our favor, but at the same time schools do have a responsibility to protect gay kids and they frequently don’t do a very good job of it.”

Harper contended that the message on his shirt should not be considered hate speech, saying, “I am not in any way saying that I hate homosexuals or people who are openly gay. Christianity isn’t like that because, it’s very clear, I love the sinner but I hate the sin. The people who came up to me and addressed me and thought that my views were controversial, they thought that I was speaking against specific people and that I was speaking against homosexuals. No, we’re embracing those people, we love those people but homosexuality is a sin.”

Despite his defense of the shirt, two students from Poway High who were interviewed following the press conference did feel that the shirt contributed to an unsafe environment on campus for GLBT youth.

“I think it was really disrespectful,” said Melissa Moreland. “You can express your opinions, but not in a way that will hurt people’s feelings.”

Jennifer McArthur added: “I heard about rude things that people did on that day. Someone spit in someone’s face, or called them fag or something that would just tear them down.”

According to the girls, on the Day of Silence last year, students were disciplined for wearing derogatory shirts that read “Exit Only” across their backs, and the girls contended that on the Day of Silence in past years students have faced other forms of harassment that included taunting and having things thrown at them. When questioned about these incidents, a Poway High School employee confirmed that students had worn the controversial shirts and that they were aware of the taunting incidents in previous years, but the employee said no other taunting incidents directed towards students participating in the Day of Silence were reported this year.

“I’ve been in contact with students who have had a really rough time at Poway High School who are gay, kids with the GSA,” Wilson said. “I think the school district, if you talked to them will say, ‘Gee, we’re just stuck between a rock and a hard place and we have to defend these people’s liberties and those people’s liberties’ and here is what I will tell you: I think protecting gay kids against threats of violence and death and fearing violence on campus is far superior to telling a kid he can’t wear a T-shirt. I think that is an issue that’s going to come up in this.”

The Alliance Defense Fund has asked the court to bar the district and school from “selectively banning religious expression” and grant at least $25,000 in damages to Harper. The school has 20 days to respond to the suit.