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Preacher sues school over daughter's anti-homosexuality t-shirt, Internet says 'hate speech is not free speech'

Warriors for Christ preacher Richard Penkoski claims his daughter's school violated her freedom of speech and religious freedom rights by banning her 'homosexuality is a sin' t-shirt

OVERTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE: Richard Penkoski, a Tennessee preacher who heads a ministry called 'Warriors for Christ', is suing the Overton County school district for kicking his daughter out of class for her t-shirt, which bore the words "Homosexuality is a sin. 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10". He claims that this violates her right to free speech and religious freedom, as well as protections granted by the Tennessee’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Penkoski's daughter, who is referred to in the lawsuit as "B.A.P.", showed up to class at Livingston Academy wearing the t-shirt, and was immediately sent to the principal's office. The school argued that it was not violating his daughter's free speech, but that the shirt was deemed to be "sexually connotative" as it contained the word "sex" in it. Penkoski objects to this, especially in light of his claim that the classroom contains pro-LGBTQ+ imagery in the form of a rainbow Pride flag in the classroom. After Penkoski's daught was unable to change out of or cover up the t-shirt, her father was texted, which prompted him to call the school's principal. 

According to the New York Post, the principal then told Penkoski that his daughter's t-shirt containing the world "homosexuality" counted as a sexual reference, which was against the school's dress code. In the lawsuit filed October 16, Penkoski says that the school forced her to choose between "abandoning her religious beliefs" and sticking to those beliefs only to be disciplined for it, placing a substantial burden on the child that was in violation of her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Penkoski also posted the image of his daughter from the day she wore the shirt, writing, "My 15 year old was thrown out of school for the day for wearing this shirt. #lgbt wants to trample on your #freespeech rights while they cry for special rights."

The tweet has garnered a fair amount of attention online, stirring up several online debates about religious freedom and the freedom of speech vs homosexuality. "As someone who is open to LBTQ I find this extremely offensive. I'm agnostic so I don't see the Bible as anything more than twisted and mixed up translations of texts that don't even matter in this day and age. She was right to be sent home. That can cause harm to others. Bully!" writes one user.

"A) hate speech is not free speech B) scholars agree that the word used in the bible should be translated as pedophile, not homosexual. The church rewrote this to serve their homophobic agenda," writes another user, who later adds, "I have been corrected. Disgusting hateful speech is still protected under 1st amendment. However, let me just point out: 1A does not protect you from the consequences of your speech, and schools are allowed to establish dress codes."

A third commentor writes, "How dare you use a minor to spread your HATE for others who are different than you! You are entitle to your beliefs and free speech, you are not entitled to use a public school to spread hate. Your daughter will be branded the rest of her school years for this"