A judge has ordered Ann Arbor Public Schools in Detroit, Mi. to pay over $100,000 in attorney fees and costs to the Thomas More Law Centre, because the school community there refused a student, Betsy Hansen, the right to express her religious views against homosexuality during her school’s annual Diversity Week in 2002.

Detroit Federal District Judge Gerald E. Rosen ordered the payment as a result of his earlier decision in December of 2003, ruling in favour of the Christian student. Rosen concluded that Hansen’s constitutional right to freedom of speech, and the right to equal protection, had been violated.

As was reported in the Detroit Free Press, the case emanated when Betsy Hansen was censored from speaking at a “Homosexuality and Religion” panel, sponsored by the school and organized by the school’s Gay/Straight Alliance during Diversity Week. Hansen requested that she be allowed to invite a pro-life clergyman to sit on the panel to help her express her Catholic views. Her request was refused. Hansen stated during the resulting court case that the school officials did not allow her to participate because they only wanted to present one opinion – that religion and homosexual behaviour are compatible.

Other cases of Christian censorship occurring in schools have been reported as well. In 2002, Lisa Klassen of St. Thomas, Ont., was “unofficially suspended” for wearing a pro-life shirt with the words, “Abortion is Mean.” Her vice-principal reportedly spoke to Klassen and informed her that her shirt was offensive to other students and that she had received complaints from parents. Klassen would not let her message be silenced and continued to wear the shirt, while gathering support from other schoolmates who also began to wear similar make-shift shirts. That case, however (contrary to the recently resolved situation in the United States), never went to court.

Another case occurred at the University of British Columbia, when pro-life signs there were vandalized and destroyed. According to John-Henry Westen, editor of LifeSite News, a lawsuit was initiated. However, the court decided that “it was not in the public interest to go ahead with charges.”

When asked if such an issue would be rectified in a similar manner in Canada, Brian Rushfeldt of the Canada Family Action Coalition told The Interim that, “I don’t think it would be. If it went to court, there is not the same protection of freedom of speech and conscience and expression here in Canada. The courts will not uphold these freedoms, because they have an agenda to protect equality.”

Rushfeldt said this is due to the fact that there is no legal community organized here in Canada that could deal with these issues, as there is in the U.S.

Incidents of censorship of Christians in school systems are becoming more common. While some students take the issues to court and argue that their freedom of religion has been violated, as Rushfeldt comments, “Many cases of freedom of religion are put down in favour of the whole issue of ‘equality.'”