Student Sues School District Over Punishment For His Views Against Homosexuality

A student at a public high school in Michigan who was punished because he said that his religion opposed homosexuality is now suing the school district and his teacher for violating his civil rights, according to the Thomas More Law Center, which filed the lawsuit in federal court last week.

The case was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and cites the plaintiffs as the student, his brother, and their mother, Sandra Glowacki, and the defendants: the Howell Public School District, and the teacher, Johnson (“Jay”) McDowell.

The incident took place on Oct. 20, 2010, the day that McDowell, Glowacki’s economics teacher, wore a purple “Tyler’s Army” t-shirt as part of a national campaign called “Spirit Day,” which is promoted by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) to raise awareness of alleged bullying of homosexuals.

Instead of teaching his economics course, McDowell reportedly used his allotted class time to promote the pro-homosexual agenda, which was accompanied by McDowell sharing his thoughts and showing a video concerning such bullying to his classes.

When Daniel Glowacki was in class, he reportedly witnessed McDowell order a fellow student to remove her confederate flag belt buckle because the teacher found it offensive. Glowacki then “raised his hand and asked Defendant McDowell why it was permissible to display a rainbow flag, which is offensive to some people, but not a Confederate flag, which Defendant McDowell found offensive,” states the lawsuit.

At that point, McDowell asked Glowacki “whether he ‘supported’ or ‘accepted gays,’ or words to that effect,” says the lawsuit. When Glowacki “responded by stating that his religion does not accept homosexuality and that he could not condone that behavior,” McDowell got angry, according to the lawsuit, and said “that his religion was ‘wrong,’ or words to that effect, and ordered [Glowacki] to leave his classroom under threat of suspension.”

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