A Clear Stand

Religious schools are being pressed to spell out their policies regarding gay students and the children of same-sex couples.

Not long ago, if a student came out as gay at a religious school that viewed homosexual acts as sinful, the school could feel free to expel the student without a fuss. The same went for denying admission to children of parents who were living in same-sex partnerships.

Not anymore.

As homosexuality has become one of the fiercest battlefronts in the “culture wars,” religious schools have found it harder to exclude gays or their children without lawsuits or unwanted coverage in the news media, even though court precedents favor their right to take such action. An administrator’s decision to include or exclude a student who is gay, or has a gay parent, also can create a stir within a school community, because of the diversity of views on homosexuality among people even of...