Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) have once again asked a federal district court to stop an Illinois high school from banning a T-shirt that reads, "Be Happy, Not Gay" while the case concerning the shirt proceeds.
ADF filed a lawsuit in March for a student who has moved on, now they are asking Neuqua Valley High School to allow sophomore Alex Nuxoll to wear the shirt as an expression of his religious conviction that homosexual behavior does not lead to happiness.
Nate Kellum, ADF senior counsel, said student speech is protected speech.
“As the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, students do not lose their constitutional right to free speech upon entering the schoolhouse gate,” he said. “Neuqua Valley High School officials unconstitutionally single out one viewpoint — Alex’s — for censorship, while allowing other students to present the opposite view.”
The school prohibits speech that is critical of homosexual conduct, but allows students to promote and advocate it, particularly on the pro-gay Day of Silence, held in April each year. The T-shirt in question was worn as a counter to that school-sanctioned protest.
“Alex’s First Amendment right to free speech is important," Kellum said, "and should be thoroughly considered.”
