Students at more than two-dozen public schools in North Carolina are scheduled to participate in a Day of Silence, a yearly event sponsored by a homosexual advocacy group, but a conservative legal organization says some schools are discriminating against Christian students who want an equal chance to express their beliefs on the homosexual lifestyle.
The 12th annual Day of Silence is scheduled for April 25. The event aims to bring “attention to anti-[lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools,” according to its chief backer, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
During the school day, participants take a vow of silence to protest bullying against students of different sexual orientations. Students are also free to wear T-shirts and to pass out materials.
One of the event’s goals, according to the network, is to put homosexuality on an equal footing with ethnic, racial, and gender groups protected in school anti-discrimination policies.
“Strong policies against bullying that protect all students and clearly list the classes of students who are most frequently targeted really do make our schools safer,” said Ian Palmquist, executive director of Equality North Carolina, a pro-homosexual group, in a column March 17.
But Mike Johnson, a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, said homosexual activists are using the event to help promote their agenda in public schools, while students with traditional views on sexuality face opposition for speaking up.
“The fact of the matter is there are adult advocacy groups out there who, by their own admittance, have specifically targeted public schools as a key part of an overall strategy to change how our society perceives this kind of behavior,” Johnson said.
At least 29 public schools in North Carolina are expected to participate in this year’s event, according to a list compiled by the conservative group Mission America. Several schools are in the Triangle, including Apex High School, Fuquay-Varina High School, Millbrook High School, and Needham Broughton High School.
Schools in Charlotte, Greensboro, Wilmington*, and Boone, among other areas, are expected to join as well.
‘Viewpoint discrimination’
Christian and other traditionally minded students are organizing their own event, sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund and called the Day of Truth, to take place three days after the Day of Silence. The goal, Johnson said, is to give students a chance to exercise their freedom of speech rights on campus.
“You have to give both sides of the issue,” Johnson said. “If you communicate only one viewpoint, that’s advocacy, not education.”
Like the Day of Silence, the Day of Truth encourages students to wear T-shirts and to pass out information expressing their beliefs on homosexuality. Johnson emphasized that it is student-led and aims to avoid any interruption of classes.
Federal and state law is clear on student expression, he said. Supreme Court precedent says that public school students still have First Amendment rights, but they cannot create a “material disruption” in the school day.
“Unless it is a material and substantial disruption, then students can go do whatever they want, short of obscenity,” Johnson said.
In the past, faculty at some N.C. public schools have allowed students to participate in the Day of Silence but denied other students the right to take part in the Day of Truth, in one case prompting legal action by Alliance Defense Fund.
In April 2006, Midway High in Dunn suspended Benjamin Arthurs for wearing a T-shirt and distributing cards to his fellow students expressing his Christian beliefs on homosexuality. The Sampson County superintendent justified the suspension on the basis that Arthurs’ actions pushed “his religion on others” and “religion is not allowed in school.”
Midway High had allowed other students to participate in the Day of Silence several days prior.
The Alliance Defense Fund filed a civil rights lawsuit in district court on the basis that the school violated Arthurs’ free speech rights under the First and 14th Amendments. In early 2007, the school district agreed to a settlement in which it revised its policies to permit religious activity among students and reversed Arthurs’ record of suspension.
“You can’t single out kids for discrimination on the basis of religion,” Johnson said. “That’s called viewpoint discrimination, and it’s clearly unconstitutional.”
Legislative action
During last year’s legislative session, the General Assembly almost approved a bill that would have required all school districts to add the terms “gender identity or expression” and “sexual orientation” to their anti-bullying policies.
The House passed the bill in late May, but a Senate judiciary committee removed the sexual-orientation language and sent the measure back to the House for concurrence. The House did not vote on the Senate version, but the bill is still eligible for consideration in the 2008 short session.
A handful of school districts has chosen to include terms such as “sexual orientation” in their bullying policies on the local level. A study by Equality North Carolina found that 24 school districts include either sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in official policy.
One of the most recent examples is in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, where the school board on March 11 voted 6-3 to include the controversial terms in its anti-bullying policy.
David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.
* Update: Since this article went to press, it came to our attention that New Hanover schools will not be participating in the Day of Silence.