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Teens Accused of Being Lesbians Sue School

RIVERSIDE, Calif., Dec. 30, 2005
(AP) Two 16-year-olds who were expelled from a Lutheran high school because they were suspected of being lesbians have sued the school for invasion of privacy and discrimination.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Riverside County Superior Court, seeks the girls' re-enrollment at the small California Lutheran High School, unspecified damages and an injunction barring the school from excluding gays and lesbians.

Kirk D. Hanson, an attorney for the girls, said the expulsion traumatized and humiliated them.

"Their entire support network was pulled out from under them because of suspicions about their sexual orientation," said Hanson, who declined to say whether his clients are lesbians.

The school is on Christmas break until next week, and messages left for school officials Thursday were not immediately returned.

The lawsuit alleges that the school's principal, Gregory Bork, called the girls into his office, grilled them on their sexual orientation and "coerced" one girl into saying she loved the other.

The next day, the lawsuit says, Bork told the girls' parents they could not stay at the school with "those feelings." In a Sept. 12 letter to the parents, Bork acknowledged that officials had seen no physical contact between the girls but said their friendship was "uncharacteristic of normal girl relationships and more characteristic of a lesbian one."

"Such a relationship violates our Christian Code of Conduct," Bork wrote in his letter, which was included as an exhibit in the lawsuit. He called the girls' behavior "scandalous" and "immoral."

Hanson said the 142-student school in Wildomar, Calif., must comply with state civil rights laws because it functions as a business by collecting tuition.

"There's a lot of hypocrisy going on here," Hanson said. "The school is claiming the girls were expelled because their conduct wasn't within the Christian code. But at the same time, (the school) has students who aren't Christians and are even Jewish."

It's a private institution. Normal discrimination laws should not apply. Those who run the institution have every right to decide who can and cannot attend. If they wanted to kick all the heterosexuals out and only admit homosexual students, that's fine, too.

It is horrid, but it is legal. The law says that a private institution can do whatever it pleases when it comes to admintance. Since it is a private, religous school, they can do as they please.

No, I'm pretty sure you're wrong there. Because they took tuition they were operating as a business and businesses have to act under certain guidelines.

"but it's legal" shouldn't be an answer, regardles. "It should be illegal" is a more apt one, though I suspect it already is.

Jordan, you are THE SUCK at kissing! YAY! Just thought you should know! Rainbows! Sunshine!

And I am certain that you are wrong. The tuition is the admitance fee into the private organization. This is similar to the Boy Scouts not allowing gay men to be leaders of a troop. Since they are a private organization, and no one is forcing them to go there, the state cannot force the school to do anything.

Wow, it amazes me quite how primitive and backwards this world is sometimes. I could have sworn we were living in "Modern" times :/

Though wouldn't it depend on state by state laws?

What really annoys me is that this is trying to assert that you can't be both Christian and gay, which simply isn't true. You shouldn't force your beliefs on anyone, even if they fall in the same "religion" as yours.

it's a private(?) school and I doubt the parents paying for their kids to go to some big fancy Lutheran place are going to want Lesbians in there (probably this is where the principle was coming from).

The idea for lesbians to be expelled just 'cause of their sexual orientation's rather stupid.

Excuse me, but we should leave this for Johnny Solution Boy/ Johnny The Answer Boy to figure this out. He knows all the answers.

Anyways, I rather thought it was illegal, as discrimination is illegal in general, is it not? Of course, I'm sucky at social studies and the understanding of law, so I could be completley wrong. I was under the impression that discrimination for any reason other than for legal reasons was outlawed.

No, private schools don't get any funding from the government, so as a private they are free to do whatever they want, even if most of America thinks it's unfair. But as a Christian school I think they should be treating everyone equally.

I don't see how making it illegal for private schools to expell people based on sexuality, race or other such trifles would actually harm anything. All this "right" is protecting is the right to discriminate. I can't think of any "positive" right that would be harmed by it.

Well, not everyone shares the same views on gay rights and stuff, so making it illegal would just give us even less and less freedom.

Freedom to do what, exactly? Discriminate against gay people?

Oh snaps.

Lev. 18:22
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Freedom to do what, exactly? Discriminate against gay people?

Oh snaps.

If the girls were lesbian, they shouldn't have even been going to a Lutheran school in the first place. I you are homosexual, why would you go to a school run by people who think that homosexuality is morally wrong and a sin?

Well, I don't see why it's so important for them to go to this school if they don't believe in what it teaches.

Why should the be allowed to force the school into letting them in anyways.