A federal lawsuit filed July 8 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington accuses Highline Public Schools of forcing a sixth grade student to stay in an “inclusion” assembly she found religiously objectionable and of telling her she “had no choice” about taking part. The complaint, brought on behalf of the girl’s father, says school staff stopped her from leaving even after she began to cry and blocked her from handing out Christian materials she had brought to school. The suit asks a judge to prohibit the district from compelling students to attend programming that conflicts with their religious beliefs without prior notice and a way to opt out.
In a press release from ACLJ, attorneys say the student was pulled out of a math class by administrators, told she could not distribute gospel tracts, and then denied permission to be excused from the assembly, at which point she became visibly upset. The ACLJ complaint casts the dispute as a First Amendment battle, alleging violations of the girl’s free exercise and free speech rights and asking for injunctive relief. Lawyers for the group say the father is suing to protect his daughter’s religious expression and what he views as his parental rights in the public school setting.
As reported by Seattle Red, the May 29 “inclusion assembly” at Sylvester Middle School featured LGBTQ content and, according to the complaint, presented seventy two gender identities. The filing quotes a staff member identified as Ms. Edwards telling the girl, “you have no choice because me and ms. holmes told the people in charge that you had to use the bathroom,” and says the student cried during the program…