When a group of students decided to start a “Gay Pride” club for LGBTQ peers and supporters, they were welcomed by the school. However, when others tried to open a Christian club, the school shut them down. Now, district officials have learned that their decision could cause them to lose funding.
When freshman Daniela Barca and her friends decided to form a “faith-based support” group on campus, she asked Roy C. Ketcham High School officials where her club could regularly meet, Fox News reports. However, the response she received wasn’t quite what she expected.
Despite the vast majority of Americans identifying as Christians, the religious demographic seems to be losing its prominence with each passing year. As the push for equity over equality gains a foothold, religious freedoms are now being considered religious indoctrination.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m the only Christian at my school and I thought others might feel the same way,” Barca said in a statement. “So, I wanted to start a club at school so we can support each other in our beliefs. I hope the superintendent lets me start the club and does whatever it takes to make sure religious clubs are treated like all the other clubs.”
The 14-year-old student was told by the New York school that she isn’t permitted to create a Christian club with fellow students because the group would be “religious” and too “exclusive,” according to The Christian Post. Of course, the school unhesitantly approved an LGBTQ student group called “Pride Club” for pupils.
When Barca initially submitted an application, she was told by the school that they accidentally “lost” her paperwork. After later finding it, the principal rejected her request, arguing that the school couldn’t allow a religious club and would only approve secular groups.
When Daniela Barca and her father went to the assistant principal to plead her case, they were told that the club wouldn’t be allowed “to gather and talk about spreading the hope of Jesus” unless she agreed to change the purpose to something more “generic” because she “couldn’t limit it to the Christian Faith.”
Unwilling to back down, Barca and her family contacted First Liberty Institute, which agreed to represent the student and her religious rights. Incredibly, the organization claims that the school’s decision violates the Equal Access Act, placing Wappingers Central School District in jeopardy of losing its federal funding, One News Now reports.
“We demanded that under the Constitution and the Equal Access Act … they approve her club immediately the way they have approved other clubs at the school,” First Liberty attorney Keisha Russell said. “We set a deadline for them to respond and we’re expecting them to respond.”
According to the Equal Access Act of 1984, if a public school approves of one non-curricular group or club, it must approve of others. In short, the school cannot discriminate against a religious club, regardless of inclusivity or creed. The school also cannot censor or dictate what the clubs are allowed to discuss.
Instead of Barca and her peers having to jump through the school’s hoops, school officials are now the ones playing defense. According to Russell, the school is playing with fire and might be opting out of federal funding if it continues discriminating against Barca’s group.
“If a school district and any government entity can ignore the law blatantly in a way that Wappingers is ignoring the law, then it will only take a very limited amount of time for all of our constitutional freedoms to begin to erode,” Russell warns. “So, we always have to pay attention when the government is ignoring the Constitution in order to advance their own ends – because it will happen to everyone eventually.”
Barca’s case is expected to produce the desired results, as First Liberty Institute has won a previous case involving similar discrimination against a Christian-based club by a Kentucky school. Incredibly, all it took was a letter for officials to cease oppressing the student group.
At only 14, Barca embodies the courage and perseverance that many Americans lack when it comes to defending constitutional freedoms. Hopefully, the school will get its act together before they end up losing a lawsuit or, worse, federal funding.
Source: Tap Worthy Happenings
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