A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction opening the door for Texas brothers to compete in their school’s sports – even though they each have one strand of hair that violates the school’s dress code.
They wear their hair that way because of a religious commitment made by their family when they were born.
The fight erupted in the Mathis Independent School District, which prohibits boys from participating in extracurricular activities if their hair is longer than collar-length.
But the Texas Association of School Boards requires districts to “accommodate requests for exceptions based on a student or parent’s sincerely held religious belief,” argued Montserrat Alvarado, a spokesman for the non-profit legal group Becket.
Becket had written to the district on behalf of Cesar and Diego Gonzales warning it is bound to lose the case. The boys each have a small strand of long hair that they have vowed not to cut because of a promise their Roman Catholic family made to God.
“A religious promise to keep a small strand of uncut hair shouldn’t ban school children from catching touchdowns or participating in student council meetings,” said Alvarado.
“The school board should give these boys a chance to be active in the sports and clubs they love – not only because the school would lose miserably in court, but because it is the right thing to do.”
On Thursday, Becket reported that family won a victory in the federal court decision that granted the family’s request for a religious accommodation allowing participation in extracurriculars while the case proceeds.
Since 2017, the Gonzales brothers have been barred from all University Interscholastic League interschool competition in sports and clubs at Mathis Middle School, including playing football and joining the art and computer programing clubs. Last month, the Gonzales family urged a Texas federal court to put an end to the school district’s religious discrimination and allow the brothers to keep their lifelong promise to God.
“After two years of needless bullying of students of faith, it’s now clear that the school district is breaking the law,” said Alvarado. “Mathis Independent School District should stop this foolish fight and do the right thing.”
The uncut hair is part of a religious practice called promesa, and they have left it uncut since birth.
Becket reported the court said the parties should submit additional evidence this week, and a more detailed order would be released soon.
WND reported when Becket sent the original letter that when Cesar was an infant, he contracted a serious illness, and his parents, Pedro and Belen Gonzales, made a promise to God never to cut a small strand of their son’s hair if he was healed.
“The family has kept this deeply personal religious promise ever since, and their sons have adopted the religious promise as their own,” Becket said.
“Although the school’s dress code forbids male students from having hair past the collar, the school district granted an exemption to the boys from kindergarten through sixth grade, and they participated in school activities with no problem. The Texas Association of School Boards also instructs school districts that they ‘must accommodate requests for exceptions [from grooming codes] based on a student or parent’s sincerely held religious belief.'”
Luke Goodrich, a Becket senior counsel, said in a letter to the district that “the law is clear, and the school district will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars if it does not respect these students’ religious liberty.”
“Religious liberty is a fundamental human right, and the school district should set an example for its students of respecting human dignity,” he said.
