Student told to remove T-shirt opposing homosexuality on religious grounds
Tyler Harper, a sophomore at Poway High School in California, was sent to the office in April 2004 after wearing a T-shirt reading 'Homosexuality is Shameful' on the day after the school's 'Day of Silence.' The Ninth Circuit upheld the school's action; the Supreme Court later vacated the ruling as moot after Harper graduated.
On April 22, 2004, Poway High School sophomore Tyler Chase Harper wore a T-shirt with handwritten messages including 'Be Ashamed, Our School Embraced What God Has Condemned' on the front and 'Homosexuality is Shameful, Romans 1:27' on the back, in response to the prior day's Day of Silence event sponsored by the Gay-Straight Alliance. Administrators told him to remove the shirt; he refused and spent the day in the office. The Alliance Defense Fund sued. In Harper v. Poway Unified School District, 445 F.3d 1166 (9th Cir. 2006), a divided panel upheld the school's action under Tinker. The Supreme Court vacated and remanded as moot in 2007 after Harper graduated.