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WAYNESVILLE — A federal judge decided Wednesday to allow a Waynesville High School student to wear a T-shirt with the slogan, “Jesus Is Not a Homophobe,” to school — pending a final decision in a lawsuit filed a day earlier in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
The lawsuit accuses Principal Randy Gebhardt and the Wayne Local Schools of violating junior Maverick Couch’s First Amendment rights by forcing him to turn the shirt inside out in April 2011 when he wore it on a national Day of Silence held to draw attention to the bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.
Day of Silence was not observed at Waynesville High last year. The national recognition is scheduled for April 20 this year.
“We’re glad that Maverick is able to wear his shirt on April 20th,” Christopher Clark, a lawyer with Lambda Legal, a non-profit law firm, said in a press release. “However, a student’s First Amendment rights are not restricted to one day of the year. We will continue to fight ... .”
Lawyers for the district and Couch, 16, agreed Wednesday he may wear the shirt while they meet “regarding a possible resolution,” according to court records.
Judge Michael Barrett set a May 2 teleconference to check the status of the discussions.
According to the lawsuit, Gebhardt also called Couch’s mother to school and made him remove the shirt, on threat of discipline, when he wore it again a week later.
The lawsuit was filed by the Chicago-based law firm, committed to LGBT equality and people living with HIV, after the district declined to reverse its decision.
In January, Clark sent a letter to Gebhardt urging the district to adopt policies permitting Couch to wear the shirt and permit similar displays in the future.
“Hopefully the information I am providing will help you take appropriate steps so that no further action will be necessary to ensure that students in your school freely exercise their First Amendment right of expression,” Clark said in the letter dated Jan. 24.
In February, the school district’s lawyer said Gebhardt “was well within the bounds of his authority” in barring Couch from wearing the T-shirt.
“It is the position of Wayne Local School District Board of Education that the message communicated by the student’s T-shirt was sexual in nature and therefore indecent and inappropriate in a school setting,” lawyer William Deters said in the letter dated Feb. 24.
Superintendent Patrick Dubbs said he was unsure if Couch would be allowed to wear the T-shirt on April 20. He said the district was already willing to modify its position, but continued to be concerned about the lawsuit’s other demands, including damages, court costs and legal fees.
“That was something we were already prepared to do,” Dubbs said. “I’m having real hard time seeing how this got to this point.”
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