Christian Student Suspended for Speaking Truth on National Silence Day

By Katherine T. Phan

A student wearing a shirt with Biblical verses to counter the pro-homosexual event at his high school but was suspended when the school’s Assistant Principal reported him to the Principal’s office. On April 21, over 3,000 schools in America took a vow of silence as part of National Day of Silence in recognition of the silence imposed on sexual minorities, but 17-year-old Mark Austin had to voice the truth on homosexuality.

Austin, who attends Watauga High School in Boone, North Caroline, made a shirt that read verses from many books in the Bible to represent his faith. The verses included, "Homosexuality is sin (Leviticus 18:22)," "Hell is REAL (Revelation 21:8)," and "Jesus is the Answer! (Romans 10:9-10)" on the front. The back read, "Shout for Joy!" (Psalm 132:9).

He was led by an administrator to the Principal’s office after the Assistant Principal saw him in the school hallway while wearing the shirt and was told he violated the school’s clothing policy, which states, "Clothing or emblems which are offensive to any race, gender or religion shall not be worn." Austin said he has done nothing wrong.

"Last I checked, homosexual was not a third gender. I for one am a male, and I'm certainly not trying to bash my own gender either,” he said.

"This is not just an attack on me," he told Hanz Zieger, a columnist at Hillsdale College in Michigan. "It's an attack on America's family, from a religiously fueled school system of secular humanism, which by the way offends Bible-believing Christians with its evolutionary propaganda and anti-Christian bigotry. The homosexuals can have their Day of Silence, but Christians are really the ones that are denied the right to even speak. We're silenced in the face of public affairs, being labeled as bigoted, homophobic, intolerant, mean and fundamentalists, just to name a few."

Although Austin boldly chose suspension over taking off his shirt, he laments that other Christians weren’t about to display their faith on that day.

"I'm deeply saddened that the Christians as a majority, didn't say one word about this issue today, nor did any action to stand against it,” he said.

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