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Teenage U.K. Girl Sues School in High Court for Banning Her Chastity Ring

By Elizabeth O’Brien

HORSHAM, England, June 22, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Sixteen-year old Lydia Playfoot from West Sussex went to the High Court on Friday to sue her school for forbidding her from wearing a chastity ring.

The Millais School in Horsham forbade Miss Playfoot from wearing the ring last year, saying that it went against the school dress code. She explained, however, that it was a symbol of her religious commitment that people should wait until marriage before having sex. Nevertheless, the school refused to allow the ring, saying that it was not an “integral” part of the Christian religion.

Miss Playfoot’s human rights lawyer, Paul Diamond, argued the first session of the case Friday before Judge Michael Supperstone in London, the Guardian Unlimited reports. The case challenged the school’s decision based on The Human Rights Act, article nine, which ensures the freedom of “thought, conscience and religion”. According to this article, authorities may only interfere with an individual’s religious practice in a serious case that has sufficient legal reasons to support it.

Miss Playfoot’s written statement to the court, quoted in the New York Times, declared that, “The real reason for the extreme hostility to the wearing of the S.R.T. (The Silver Ring Thing) purity ring is the dislike of the message of sexual restraint which is ‘counter cultural’ and contrary to societal and governmental policy.”
“It is this message from the Judeo-Christian position that is suppressed: exemptions are allowed or permitted for other messages,” she said, arguing that her school “doesn’t offer equal rights to Christians.”

The case against Miss Playfoot is discriminatory argued Lydia’s father, Phil Playfoot. As he pointed out in the Daily Mail, “As other faiths are allowed to express their views through the wearing of headscarfs or the Kara bracelet of a Sikh, I think Lydia should be able to wear a ring as an expression of her faith.”

Mr. Playfoot claims that the treatment shown to his daughter and all those who wear the chastity ring is an assault on religious freedom. He commented, “I think an important principle is at stake here. I think Christians should be respected for their views and beliefs.”

This controversy is similar to a case in 2005, when a sixteen year old UK student, Sam Morris, was suspended for wearing a crucifix in school, despite the protests of other non-Christian religious groups (see http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05122208.html).

Read previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Students Barred From Wearing Christian Chastity Symbol in UK School
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06062003.html

Read related coverage:

Religious Schools in UK Forced to Teach About All Religions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06022208.html

UK, Canada Ran Neck and Neck in 2006 Race to Exterminate Religious Freedom
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07011704.html

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