Okla. Bills Target Religious Discrimination Against Students

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Two state lawmakers have introduced similar measures designed to protect students from religious discrimination.

But critics say no such protections are needed.

Reps. Mike Reynolds and Sally Kern, Republicans from Oklahoma City, have introduced nearly identical bills for the upcoming session called the Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act.

The legislation would require that an expression by a student of a religious viewpoint be treated in the same way as an expression of any secular viewpoint. Both measures would prohibit school districts from discriminating against students based on religious viewpoints and would require every district in the state to adopt a written policy to prohibit such discrimination.

"Oklahoma families need to know their children will not be persecuted for exercising their constitutional rights and expressing religious beliefs at school," Reynolds said.

"While students and guest speakers can't proselytize, they have every right to express their personal beliefs and should be given the same protections afforded nonreligious or even anti-religious officials."

Reynolds said his bill, modeled after a new Texas law, complies with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on religious expression at schools.

But Jim Huff, a retired Oklahoma schoolteacher and executive secretary of the Oklahoma Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said court rulings make the laws unnecessary.