On the heels of a public university censoring a pro-life club comes word of a public high school attempting the same.
Intervention by pro-life attorneys helped the University of Alabama quickly see the error of its ways. I expect the same will prompt Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington, to come to its senses as well.
Wilson Students for Life has been having trouble with censorship ever since its founding last year. But when school administrators rejected two Students for Life of America posters (above and below) WSFL chose to promote its club last fall, the group turned to the Thomas More Society legal team for intervention.
On February 11, the Thomas More Society sent Wilson High School principal Dan Besett a letter urging the school to reconsider, reminding it of the federal Equal Access Act, which requires school to give all student groups the same opportunities. The pro-life students had been told their posters were rejected due to a policy that states:
Acceptable posters do not offend staff or students, put others down if they have a different belief/opinion, or otherwise cause disruption. Posters that promote meetings, service projects, events, are the most common at school.
“WSFL’s posters, the administration maintained, would violate this policy because they promote a message rather than solely promoting the group’s meetings,” wrote TMS, noting, “Despite this policy, however, the administration has permitted the Wilson Gay Straight Alliance to hang flyers, for example, promoting homosexual relationships by showing conjoined male symbols and conjoined female symbols and stating ‘Love knows no limits,’” i.e., these (click to enlarge)…
Kudos to WSFL, particularly its founder, Bryce Asberg. It takes real courage to stand up against discrimination in high school settings. Know that this is more than about your situation. You’re helping stop discrimination against the pro-life view and preborn babies in many other schools. Thank you.
Reprinted with permission from Jill Stanek