Student told not to wear ‘Jesus Loves Me’ mask at Mississippi school. Her parents sue

Parents in Mississippi are suing their daughter’s school district — saying she wasn’t allowed to wear a mask reading “Jesus Loves Me.”

The couple says their 9-year-old child, referred to by her initials “L.B.” in the lawsuit, was forced by Simpson County School District officials in Pinola to remove her mask on Oct. 13.

They said that officials argued the mask violated their “Religious Speech Policy” that bars “political, religious, sexual or inappropriate symbols, gestures, or statements that may be offensive, disruptive or deemed distractive to the school environment,” according to the civil rights lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Mississippi.

“Pursuant to her sincerely held religious beliefs, L.B. desires to wear masks to SCS with positive and uplifting religious messages, like the ‘Jesus Loves Me’ mask the Defendants barred her from wearing,” the lawsuit said.

Tyson Langhofer — senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the family in the lawsuit — told WHSV that “the school is discriminating against individuals who want to wear masks expressing religious beliefs but are allowing students and faculty to wear masks expressing messages with other beliefs.”

“That’s not allowed by the First Amendment,” he said.

Wesla Sullivan Leech, Simpson County School District school board attorney, told The Associated Press the district hasn’t been served the lawsuit and wouldn’t provide a comment..

The lawsuit alleges that the school didn’t originally have a policy against religious messages on face coverings, but was later changed. It also says that other students wore masks that read “Black Lives Matter.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Student told not to wear ‘Jesus Loves Me’ mask at Mississippi school. Her parents sue."