'Homosexuality is wrong' spells trouble

A high school student got in trouble with administrators for wearing a T-shirt that expressed her opposition to homosexual behavior.

The student, whose name was withheld, was sent to the principal's office at her Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., school, where she was told to change shirts or leave campus, according to the Pacific Justice Institute, a Sacramento, Calif.-based public-interest law firm.

The front of the T-shirt says "tolerance is the virtue of believing in nothing," and the back says "truth is truth – homosexuality is wrong."

Parents of the teen, described as an A student with no history of disciplinary problems, called the institute for help.

"It is regrettable when parents have to choose which right their child will be deprived of – free speech or a public education," said Kevin Snider, chief counsel for PJI.

A PJI attorney immediately called the school and later faxed a letter explaining the students' First Amendment rights apply on a school campus.

School officials, pointing to a policy based on "tolerance and diversity," explained a homosexual would be offended by a shirt that says "homosexuality is a sin."

PJI's president, Brad Dacus, argued, however, "One-way tolerance is not tolerance, but tyranny."

"Intolerance of students with religious or moral convictions should have no place in public education," he said.

The school dropped its demand of the student after PJI told officials she will continue to wear the shirt and others expressing her values and beliefs, at her discretion.