A team of Christian lawyers is arguing on behalf of Christian Schools in California that the schools can expel students who engage in homosexual activities.
The lawyers from the Christian Legal Society and the Alliance Defense Fund are asking permission for the Association of Faith-Based Organizations to be added to a lawsuit over that issue. They say the result of the case against California Lutheran High School could affect the rights of members of the organization.
Parents of the two expelled students are suing the Christian school, alleging a violation of California's "sexual orientation" anti-discrimination laws.
"Christian schools have the right to make admissions and disciplinary decisions consistent with their Christian beliefs," said Timothy J. Tracey, a litigation counsel for the CLS. "To subject Christian schools to liability under the California anti-discrimination laws for expelling students who engage in homosexual conduct flatly violates this right."
The article doesn't go into questions of funding, as in, do the Christian schools receive state or federal funds? If so, they are probably subject to state and federal anti-discrimination laws. If not, I don't see how they can be held to be violating any state law, since the rights of the Constitution trump state law.
This is the sort of argument some people make with regards to a voucher system for private schools. If state money is accepted, then the state can control what is taught. And if private schools must teach exactly what the public schools teach, why spend the extra money?
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