A bill that has been sent to Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin designed to protect “religious expressions” in public schools has LGBT advocates worried it will give student groups a license to discriminate.
The measure would prohibit school officials from punishing students for wearing religious messages on their clothes and expressing religious or political beliefs in homework, artwork, and speeches. It would also prevent school officials from hindering student organizations, including the selection of members, its mission, and “its determination that only persons committed to its mission should conduct these activities.”
Sarah Warbelow, the legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, said the bill would undermine “all comers” policies at public schools that do not let student organizations discriminate based on race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
