Supreme Court Refuses Two LGBT Cases

On Monday, the first day of its new session, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear two LGBT-related cases.

The first case involved an appeal by a Michigan school district to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the parents of a student who endured years of antigay harassment without school intervention, reports Bay Windows.

Court records for the case, Hudson Area Schools v. Patterson, show that students repeatedly harassed the unnamed Patterson student referred to as "DP." Harassment began in sixth grade and included calling him "queer," "gay," and "faggot," writing antigay slurs on his books and locker, and urinating on his clothes.

Despite seeking help from school officials, the harassment escalated in high school with a student sexually assaulting him in a locker room.

Since the Supreme Court refused to hear the school's appeal, the parents' lawsuit will now be heard in a federal district court in Detroit.

The Supreme Court also refused Monday to get involved in a dispute between breakaway Episcopalians and their former national church over who owns a California church and its property.

The St. James parish in the diocese of Los Angeles separated from the denomination in 2003 because the Episcopal Church allowed the consecration of a gay bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

The Episcopal Church fought the parish's efforts to take the property.

The California supreme court ruled that, while St. James had the right to split off from the larger church, the congregation could not take parish property with it, according to the Associated Press.

By refusing to hear the St. James parish appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court has left the ruling of the California court intact.