A Texas judge has upheld the right of high school cheerleaders to paint Bible verses on banners for their football team, the New York Times has reported.
The school district decided to ban the banners, causing the cheerleaders to sue. The judge issued a temporary injunction against the district and set the trial date for June 24, 2013, well after the season is completed.
The Times wrote:
The decision by the judge in state district court in Hardin County came the day after Gov. Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott came to the cheerleaders’ defense. They called the efforts by the Kountze school district to prohibit the banners "a great insult" that was out of step with a state law requiring districts to treat student expression of religious views in the same manner that secular views are treated.
The case has galvanized Christians in this small town in East Texas as well as around the state and the country. The cheerleaders painted Bible verses on run-through banners, the large paper signs the Kountze Lions tear through as they enter the field for a game. Last month, the district superintendent, Kevin Weldon, ordered a ban on such signs after consulting with lawyers. A group of cheerleaders and their parents sued the district in response.
The judge "did not rule on the merits of the case, though he suggested in his order granting the temporary injunction that the district’s policy was unlawful."
The district’s lawyer indicated the district might appeal.