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Loading ...Calif. high court OKs lesbian students expulsion
05.04.2009 8:16pm EDT
(Riverside, California) The California Supreme Court will let stand an appeals court ruling that a Lutheran school was within its rights when it expelled two students for allegedly being lesbians.
The case began in 2005 after the school’s principal, Gregory Bork, called the girls into his office and grilled them on their sexual orientation. One girl was allegedly coerced to say she loved the other.The next day, the suit said, Bork told the girls’ parents they could not stay at the school with “those feelings.” In a Sept. 12, 2005 letter to the parents, Bork acknowledged officials had seen no physical contact between the girls but said their friendship was “uncharacteristic of normal girl relationships and more characteristic of a lesbian one.”
The girls’ attorney argued that the 142-student school in Wildomar was bound to comply with state civil rights laws because it functions as a business by collecting tuition and falls under the California civil-rights law that prohibits LGBT discrimination.
The school is owned by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the nation’s third-largest Lutheran church body. The California Lutheran High School Association, comprising three dozen churches and religious schools, operates the campus.
The school argued that it is exempt from the rights law because it is run by a religious institution and does not accept state funding.
In 2008, a Riverside County Superior Court judge dismissed the case, ruling that was no legal basis for the girls’ claim that the school falls under the law.
The case was appealed and last January the 4th District Court of Appeal upheld the lower court ruling.
Attorneys for the girls appealed to the California Supreme Court which declined to hear the case. The decision allows the earlier rulings to stand.
Nice. How long before a WP ‘churches’ are allowed to create religious schools and other schools use this ruling so that they can expel Jews, Blacks, Hispanics, poorer students, democrats, socialists, whatever- etc. This is just thinly veiled, state sponsored bigotry.
How the hell do you kick out children from a school when there is no kissing, screwing, or even hugging. WHat a bunch of horse nuggets. I think that that guy over there is gay…let’s expell him, because that’s been what I’ve been hearing. These “church schools”, need to pay taxes along with their congregational idiots too.
This, unfortunately, is the price of living in a free society that values the separation of church and state. Roughly stated, as long as they are acting within a “religious” capacity, churches are free to discriminate. It is also a long held legal concept that private religious schools that accept tuition are not acting as a public accomodation and are free to educate as they choose as long as they don’t accept public funds. This is the predictable outcome of this case and would have been the same if they had been kicked out for any other reasons as long as the reason is based on a tenet of the faith, no matter how repugnant it would be in a public accomodation. This actually proves the the “Yes on 8″ crowd that religion will not be over-run by same sex marriage. This case should be used as a tool to confront that lie.
If the Lutherans are so concerned, they
might check what is going on in their
seminary
I think it’s great – because if the court had forced a religious school to accept these girls, everybody who hates gays would have a pile of political ammunition. This is a case of losing a battle (a minor skirmish actually) to win the war, and I think the state supreme court did us a favor.
This also helps provide some cover to the court for overturning Prop. 8 – they have just until June 6 to announce their decision.
Think of the idiot parent who took the first grade class to San Francisco City Hall to see Gavin Newsome officiate their lesbian teacher’s wedding just days before the California election – that was all over the news and convinced a lot of people who were on the fence to vote for Prop. 8.
So I hope the two expelled girls and their families and friends get mad at their personal injustice to become activists for equality.
@schulteraffe:
I completely agree with you. It sucks that two girls were expelled under “witch hunt”-like circumstances, but the school has the right to expel anyone they choose. We definitely need to use this situation to support same-sex marriage in that it won’t affect religious institutions (the ones that don’t get state/federal funding).
This kinda reminds me of the article on the Vatican “cracking down” on gays in the seminaries. What defines a “lesbian relationship” between two girls? It’s just like how the Vatican doesn’t have a list for determining who is/isn’t gay.
First I understand that religious institutions don’t want cultural ideas that don’t fit into their religion forced upon them. I wouldn’t want someone forcing me to go to church because it was a law even though I don’t agree.
But having said that churches get special privilages from the state and federal governments that others don’t. If discrimination is what they want to practice instead of God’s love for humanity maybe they need a dose of reality with their tax exemption being revoked. This might send a wake up call.
But until then these types of things will only try to teach our children hate and discrimination neither of which should be included in schools.
This is no different than private country clubs not allowing women in certain areas or not allowing black members. These are private institutions. Your tax money doesn’t go to them. It’s wretched but would you still play golf in that club?
I hope one day, homophobic discrimination becomes a social boo-boo, it’ll be frowned upon even in the most private institutions. Till then, we should just give such places bad PRs.
Any school that discriminates on any federally protected status should instantly and permanently lose all state and federal benefits for a period of no less than 20 years.
It was the right decision. The school is a church-run school. A religious school can exclude students if the exclusion is based on religious beliefs. If the school were publicly funded, then they couldn’t discriminate in this manner. (Remember the story about the Catholic high school outside Toronto which had to allow the gay couple at prom? Ontario Catholic schools are publicly funded, so they have to comply with Charter over church doctrine.)
‘This actually proves the the “Yes on 8″ crowd that religion will not be over-run by same sex marriage. This case should be used as a tool to confront that lie.’
That’s not true, I think a case can be made against churches in regard to same-sex marriages so long as states recognize the solemnization of marriages from such places.
If they are functioning as an official of the state then they must be held accountable by the same principles as the state.
schulteraffe is right – this is a silver-lining if it can counter religious fundamentalists’ fears of state intrusion on their lives. If they believe in the separation of faith and state as much as we do, it would have to be reasonable. Unfortunately, there are many who believe in state theocracy, and for them it was never about whether the state is intruding into their faith, but the fact that the state doesn’t institutionally *reflect* their faith.
This doesn’t suprise me, I was kicked out of a school owned by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in 2nd grade for being in and promoting the Girl Scouts.
The era of religious “education” institutes needs to come to a close IMMEDIATELY!! Separation of education and religion is the very important first step. WTF are these two girls doing going to such a “school” to begin with? More self loathing, or just plain masochists???