An Ohio school has lifted the ban disallowing one of its students to wear a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Jesus Is Not A Homophobe’ for one day only.
Maverick Couch was initially banned from wearing the T-shirt by The Wayne Local School District until yesterday the school ruled that he would be allowed to wear it on 20th April’s annual National Day of Silence, a day to raise awareness to LGBT issues.
Civil rights group Lambda legal are filing legal action against the school, who are only allowing the openly gay student to wear a pro-gay T-shirt for one day of the year.
‘We’re glad that Maverick is able to wear his shirt on April 20th,’ said Christopher Clark, senior staff attorney for Lambda Legal. ‘However, a student’s First Amendment rights are not restricted to one day of the year – we will continue to fight until Maverick is allowed to express who he is on any day he chooses.’
Mr Couch has been fighting his case to wear the T-shirt since he was called into the principal’s office last April and told he must turn the item inside out.
Speaking this week, he said: ‘I’ve been bullied and called names, I wanted to wear the T-shirt to encourage respect for all students, gay or straight. I wish my school would help me create an accepting environment for LGBT kids, not single me out for punishment.’
