In Kountze, Texas, cheerleaders are showing their support for their football team through religious banners hung around the field. Following the banners installation, the superintendent of the school received a complaint about the signs.

The superintendent forwarded the complaint to the Texas Association of School Boards. The legal counsel for the Texas Association of School Boards instructed the superintendent not to allow a student group to put up religious signs at school sponsored events.

In retaliation, a group of 15 cheerleaders and their parents sued the school district, stating that by not allowing them to continue to hang their religious banners; the school district was violating their freedom of speech.

In court both sides painted each other as heroes, the cheerleaders for standing up for what they believe in, and the superintendent, Kevin Weldon, for not conforming to the masses and siding with the unpopular legal standpoint.

“I commend them for their boldness, for their convictions, but as a school district we’re going to continue to follow the law.” says Weldon, a Christian himself when asked about the reason behind the ban.

“They can be offended, because that’s their right. But so far there hasn’t been any opposition to what we’re doing. Nothing but support.”  Replied Rebekah Richardson, 17, when asked about how the cheerleaders’ posters would affect someone of another faith.

Weldon and lawyers representing the district have said that they would like to allow cheerleaders at the school to put up religious banners but require a statement from a judge because it was unclear whether or not schools are required to prohibit religious signs.

During his testimony, Weldon said that his decision to forbid the cheerleaders from displaying religious signs at public events violated the policies that protect students’ ability to express their religious views and discriminated against the cheerleaders.