David Stout: Plainwell High student sues school for suspending him for 'Christian beliefs'
PLAINWELL, MICHIGAN: A high school student is suing his school district after he was suspended for voicing his Christian beliefs. David Stout who is a junior at Plainwell High School was suspended for three days for expressing his Christian beliefs and opinions in a private conversation on school property and in private text messages outside of school with friends, as per attorneys.
In filing the lawsuit, the student seeks to have his disciplinary record cleared, apart from seeking compensatory or nominal damages, costs and attorney fees. Stout also asked the court to issue a declaratory ruling that the Plainwell School District has violated his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
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As per the lawsuit, Stout was suspended for allegedly saying in his conversations and text messages that the "Bible teaches that homosexual conduct is a sin, and in the Christian context that God created only two biological genders — man and woman." He further continued, "while homosexual conduct is a sin, however, everyone is a sinner due to freewill choices, and he would pray for them 'to repent and follow Jesus.'”
The student was also suspended for "laughing, allegedly, at inappropriate racial and homophobic ‘jokes’ as told by two other band members during the school’s summer band camp on school grounds and not immediately stopping them from telling inappropriate ‘jokes," the lawsuit said.
According to the lawsuit, the student met privately with the band director to discuss the band camp incident. The administrator told the student to "stop all further conversations regarding his religious beliefs with other students because if any student overheard them, they might feel offended and unsafe."
The lawsuit argues that the school officials acted outside their authority and violated the student’s First Amendment rights. It also states that the school had no authority to discipline the student for his speech in the case of his private text messages. David Kallman, Stout’s attorney said in a press release, "My client’s religious speech and beliefs should be treated with tolerance and respect".
Kallman further said, "Public schools may not violate the constitution and enforce a heckler’s veto of student speech. Nothing David did caused any disruption or problem at the school. He has the right to express his opinion in accordance with his sincerely held religious beliefs, without vilification or punishment from the government for holding to those beliefs."
David’s father, David Stout, Sr remarked, "We have always taught our son to be respectful of everyone’s opinion and to be polite to others…(He) is entitled to properly express his faith and beliefs without being disciplined and suspended by Plainwell schools. We trust the court will uphold David’s constitutional rights and his school record will be cleared." The superintendent of Plainwell Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment.