By Michael Gryboski, Editor 
A district court has blocked a Washington state school district from barring LifeWise, a Christian nonprofit that oversees off-campus religious instruction for public school students, from various activities after a district board member said he opposes the group’s beliefs.
U.S. District Judge Lauren King of the Western District of Washington issued an order last week partly granting a preliminary injunction against the Everett Public School District.
LifeWise filed a complaint accusing school district officials of unlawfully banning the organization from participating in community resource fairs and from displaying flyers where secular groups are allowed to do so.
King, a Biden appointee, wrote that the district “has engaged in viewpoint discrimination” by barring LifeWise from activities simply because it is a religious organization.
“[T]he District cannot deny the same access to LifeWise, which provides a service to families through a religious viewpoint,” King wrote.
“LifeWise seeks nothing more than to be treated the same as other groups,” the order noted. “The Court also finds that the District burdened Plaintiffs’ religious expression.”
King ordered that the school district allow LifeWise “to participate in the District’s community resource fairs” and “display printed flyers in schools of the District where and to the extent secular organizations are allowed to do so.”
The school district must permit Emerson Elementary School students “to be released for LifeWise programs” with proper permission slips and allow students “to read LifeWise reading materials during times of the school day during which students may read other non-scholastic materials.”
In a December school district board meeting, board member Charles Adkins admitted he holds “animus” toward the Christian group because of its traditional beliefs that marriage is a union between one man and one woman.
“I want to make it very, extremely, abundantly clear, that yes, I do in fact hold animus toward LifeWise Academy,” Adkins said during the meeting, as quoted in the judge’s order. “It is an organization of homophobic bullies who are active and willing participants in the efforts to bring about an authoritarian theocracy.”
Jeremy Dys, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, a legal group that represents LifeWise, said in a statement that he supports the court injunction.
“Targeting the operation of an out-of-school program just because it’s religious is a direct violation of the First Amendment,” Dys said.
“We are grateful that the court has put a halt to the open and intentional acts of discrimination toward LifeWise by the Everett School District.”
In a statement, Everett Public Schools said it is “in the process of reviewing the court order with legal counsel and evaluating the next steps.”
“This case is still in active litigation and is not the final order from the court,” Everett Public Schools said in a statement shared with Fox News. “The district will continue to follow the legal process and the orders from the court. Everett Public Schools remains committed to serving all students.”
