Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Barack Obama was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
School Must Reinstate Anti-LGBTQ+ Religious Club, Court Rules
A Christian group that discriminates against LGBTQ+ people must be reinstated as an official student organization at a high school in San Jose, Calif., while a lawsuit against it proceeds, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.The San Jose Unified School District had withdrawn recognition of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes after a controversy over the club at Pioneer High School, the Los Angeles Times reports.
In 2019, a teacher had questioned its “Sexual Purity” statement, which said heterosexual marriage was the only proper setting for sexual relationships.
The teacher said he was “deeply saddened” by this and asked students for their opinions. After complaints and protests, the district ended up rescinding recognition of the club, saying it was in violation of San Jose Unified’s nondiscrimination policy.The group and its parent organization then sued, claiming this amounted to discrimination on the basis of religion.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed. The judges ruled 2-1 that the fellowship was likely to win its discrimination case and ordered that it be reinstated while the case is hear.Judge Kenneth Kiyul Lee, who was appointed to the court by Donald Trump, wrote that the district did not apply the nondiscrimination policy neutrally but focused it on a religious group.
