MARSHALL — A deadline for the Marshall Public School district to respond to a lawsuit filed in Minnesota District Court is approaching next week, court documents said.
Both MPS and Marshall Middle School principal Mary Kay Thomas have until June 7 to file responses to a lawsuit filed after a rainbow LGBT pride flag was included in a display of flags at the middle school cafeteria last year.
The lawsuit claims the school district violated a student’s First Amendment rights by taking away a petition he had started in support of removing the rainbow flag. The lawsuit also claims the school district’s policies on flag displays are not “viewpoint neutral.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, a group called Marshall Concerned Citizens and Grant Blomberg, are demanding a jury trial, court documents said.
The lawsuit was filed April 22, and MPS and Thomas originally had until May 17 to file responses. However, court documents said they requested a time extension, and a new deadline of June 7 was set.
