Court Upholds Religious School's Right to Expel Actively Lesbian Students

By Tim Waggoner

SAN FRANCISCO, May 4, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The California Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling Wednesday protecting the religious freedom of a Christian private school that expelled two female students for having a lesbian relationship, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

In September of 2005, two students from the California Lutheran High School in Wildoma were suspended by the school principal, Gregory Bork, after they were questioned about their suspected lesbian relationship. The principal was reacting to a tip from another student regarding questionable material found on the girls' MySpace pages.

One month later, the high school's directors expelled the two teens.

The parents took the private school to court over the issue, where attorney Kirk Hanson attempted to sue the school under the Unruh Act. This state law enacted in 1959 outlawed discrimination by businesses and was amended in 2005 to include sexual orientation.

But in January, the 4th District Court of Appeal found that a religious private school is not a business, but a social organization that exists primarily to instill its values in students, and therefore is not subject to the civil rights laws that force California businesses to cater to the homosexual movement.

In letting the appeal court's ruling stand, Casey Mattox, litigation counsel for the Virginia-based Center for Law and Religious Freedom, said Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar's of the state's supreme court made "the correct decision."

"We think it preserves religious freedom," he said.

The ruling, which will surely make headways in the wake of the California people's approval of true marriage in the form of Proposition 8, is binding in all California trial courts.

source

If they are completely self-funded than while i do not like it they should be allowed. However if they recieve any kind of state or federal funding or aid than in that case I think they should not be allowed to just call the shots like that.mattykovax

Why any homosexual would ever attend a Christian private school is beyond me. :?

what if those two girls were of the religion the school was.... wouldnt you feel banished by your faith if you were them? who are they to say " you do not belong in X religion's school because you like girls instead of men" .. stupid stuff... they are better off now, they wont be getting brainwashed in school anymore.

it's not right to suspend the students, but it's a private school, so =/

Besides (i didn't read the link) i doubt the two girls were lesbians. Maybe they were curious or something =P

Why any homosexual would ever attend a Christian private school is beyond me. :?

RadBooley

Why any homosexual would ever attend a Christian private school is beyond me. :?

RadBooley

A private school is allowed to have their own rules, and their decision was fine. However TC, that last part was not needed as it is not related to the article you posted. The article you posted had to do with a private school's rights to maintain their own rules, not the legality of homosexual marriage.

If they are completely self-funded than while i do not like it they should be allowed. However if they recieve any kind of state or federal funding or aid than in that case I think they should not be allowed to just call the shots like that.mattykovax

Private schools can expel people with birth marks on their forehead or some other arbitrary discriminantory characteristic for all I care. Which is precisely why I would never attend a private school.

what if those two girls were of the religion the school was.... wouldnt you feel banished by your faith if you were them? who are they to say " you do not belong in X religion's school because you like girls instead of men" .. stupid stuff... they are better off now, they wont be getting brainwashed in school anymore.

nimatoad2000

Second. Thisis a prime example of what I hate about religious schools.

If they were gay why go to a Lutheran school? That makes no sense.

If they were gay why go to a Lutheran school? That makes no sense.

Hungry_Jello

Well, it is an interesting question you pose around the boundary between religious freedom vs. equal rights. I have a couple of quick thoughts: 1. A less biased news source would really enhance your opening post. "The ruling, which will surely make headways in the wake of the California people's approval of true marriage in the form of Proposition 8" pretty evidently has its own agenda. If you really want folks to answer from their hearts and heads, rather than to influence their answers, then this article was a bad one to use to get true results in your poll. 2. If this private school gets no funding publicly, then I guess they can set their own standards on who they admit and who they allow to stay in once admitted. Of course expelling a student for no other reason than her sexual orientation doesn't speak well of either the forgiveness and charity of their version of Christianity or of their willingness to put merit, brains and otherwise ability above all else. Do they want to educate young students or indoctrinate them? Expelling a student for no other reason than her orientation makes sense if you're trying to enforce a particular religious doctrine. It makes no sense whatsoever if you're trying to be a top notch educational institution.nocoolnamejim

I don't think it really matters what news source is used these days. Many of the so-called "less biased" news sources either lean very liberal or lean very conservative. Besides, Lifesitenews.com reports on a lot of things that the mainstream news media do not report on. I think they explained the situation very well.

I do believe that the wording of the poll is balanced.

I do not know how the school is funded but it's not an issue in the article at all. I don't think a private religious school would accept government funding if it meant compromising on their religious teachings. It would be no different from a public school and therefore, would defeat the purpose of being formed in the first place.

Regardless of one's views on this issue, the poll results and comments are going to be very interesting.

[QUOTE="Hungry_Jello"]

If they were gay why go to a Lutheran school? That makes no sense.

Darth-Caedus

If they were, they should've hidden their homosexuality better. Its highly unlikely they were christian though......

A private school can have whomever they want for students, so yes, I support it.

Why any homosexual would ever attend a Christian private school is beyond me. :?

RadBooley

A lot of Christian private schools are girl-only or boy-only.

School: "We love everyone but sometimes only up to a certain point. Especially if what you are doing is something you yourself cannot control then its really more like we hate you."

I hate it when religious people suddenly become unaccepting ofpeople because of things out of their control.

While I do disagree with intolerance and discrimination, it's a private school. They have a right to be selective

Strongly disagree. It's almost similar to expelling blacks at all white school for a similar reason during the time when extreme racism was present. But I guess it solely depends on whether the school is funded by the state or not, because if it wasn't, then they may have the right to do so.....tocool340

No, they should be sued. Just because it's a private school doesn't give it the right to discriminate.

Strongly disagree. It's almost similar to expelling blacks at all white school for a similar reason during the time when extreme racism was present. But I guess it solely depends on whether the school is funded by the state or not, because if it wasn't, then they may have the right to do so.....tocool340

Having a skin color is not engaging in a behavior. It's not even remotely the same thing. The girls were not kicked out for "being" homosexuals. They were kicked out for engaging in a homosexual relationship. That's quite a big difference. It's not like someone actually has to be in a relationship at all, whatever their sexual orientation is. I have a feeling there might actually be a little bit more to this story anyway than them merely having a relationship, but that's just my guess and is sort of besides the point.

Is it a stupid reason to kick them out? Maybe, but they are a religious institution and if their teachings prohibit certain behaviors then the state really doesn't have any business forcing them to admit students that engage in behaviors violate their religious teachings, regardless of whether you or I think they are good moral principles or not. Should they be able to kick them out merely for being attracted to members of the same sex? No, but that is not what we are talking about.

its a private school, they can do what they wantGreenEco

That's like being a Muslim and going to a catholic school. San Francisco eh? Doesn't surprise me.msuspartan11

I'm curious as to how the judge in this case came to the decision that a private school is not a business. They take your money in exchange for a service. How exactly is that not a business? Because it's education? Please.

Anyway, I think this case makes it painfully clear how limited student rights are in this country. A lot of stuff that schools do would get them sued and shut down in seconds if they did it to adults. Basically as a K-12 student the only rights you have are the right to live and the right to not get raped. Just about anything else goes.

I don't see why we should have religious schools in the first place, why don't we just ban them. I mean, you should be allowed to take a religious class if you want, but a religious school is just a breeding ground for intolerance.Religious schools should be illegal.Famiking

Because public schools can't freely teach subjects that private schools can.

Booyah to the Court for preserving religious freedom. It is a Private, Religious school. You can't go just because you can pay the tuition, there are religious guidelines to be met for admitance in this private school. The religion in question is against homosexuality. The girls are not being told they have no choice in larger society, the school told them they have no choice in this school. Sounds like the parents were (unknowingly?) just supporting a discriminated minority's political viewpoint. Dosen't 'fly' in all private sectors, nor should it, or USA loses freedom of choice.

I don't see why we should have religious schools in the first place, why don't we just ban them. I mean, you should be allowed to take a religious class if you want, but a religious school is just a breeding ground for intolerance.Religious schools should be illegal.Famiking

Wow. Religion and intolerance don't really go hand in hand. Especially when one of the largest tenants of all the major religions is, in fact, tolerance.

Another item about this- The girls were knowingly enrolled in a school that did not support their sexual preference. Why go where they weren't wanted, blow mom and dad's tuition $$,and their own education, by risking getting caught? I really can't feel sorry for them being foolhardy.