Two suburban students filed suit on March 21, claiming their high school violated their First Amendment rights.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, claims that Heidi Zamecnik, 17, and Alexander Nuxoll, 14, were denied their rights to religious freedom and free speech when Naperville's Neuqua Valley High School would not allow the students to wear anti-gay T-shirts reading 'My Day of Silence, Straight Alliance' and 'Be Happy, Not Gay.'
The students donned the shirts on April 20, 2006, the day after the National Day of Silence, where LGBT students and supporters are allowed to remain silent in order to shed light on anti-gay bigotry.
The suit reads that, 'while defendants support the 'Day of Silence' and freely permit students at Neuqua Valley High School to be silent and wear paraphernalia conveying messages promoted homosexual behavior, they systematically eliminate any opposing viewpoint, including messages desired to be communicated by plaintiffs Heidi Zamecnik and Alexander Nuxoll.'
The suit also claims that the students feel compelled to speak 'out of a sense of compassionate duty.'
According to the suit, Zamecnik was ordered to the dean's office and to remove her T-shirt. She refused, and a female counselor marked out the words 'Not Gay' on her shirt.
Indian Prairie School District has a student appearance policy that states a student's dress and grooming should not disrupt the education process or interfere with the maintenance of a positive learning and teaching environment.
The suit claims that Zamecnik hopes to wear a similar T-shirt following this year's National Day of Silence.
An Arizona-based conservative group, the Alliance Defense Fund ( ADF ) , is representing the students. ADF is familiar with representing students in cases of 'religious freedom.'
Earlier this month, ADF attorneys secured a settlement with the Sampson County Board of Education. They represented a North Carolina student who was suspended for distributing anti-gay materials during an April 27 event called 'Day of Truth.' The event allows students to present Christian viewpoints on homosexuality. In the settlement, the school agreed to permit religious speech, allow religious T-shirts, expunge the student's record and change its policies.
Calls to the Indian Prairie School District have not been returned.