Suit was filed in a Tennessee federal district court last week by a high school student and her father challenging a public school's interpretation of a Policy in its Student Handbook that bars clothing with offensive messages, including sexual connotations. The school insisted that the Policy prohibits plaintiff from wearing a shirt featuring the message "homosexuality is a sin-- 1 Corinthians 6:9-10". The suit contends that this violates plaintiff's free exercise and free speech rights. The complaint (full text) in B.A.P. v. Overton County Board of Education, (MD TN, filed 10/16/2020), alleges in part:
Plaintiffs have a personal belief in the Biblical mandate to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and Plaintiff B.A.P. engages in activities, for the purpose of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that are prohibited by the [school's] Policy.
WZTV reports on the lawsuit.
