Christian Chastity ring teenager loses High Court fight*

By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:21pm BST 16/07/2007

A school that banned a teenage girl from wearing a "purity" ring to
symbolise her opposition to sex before marriage did not discriminate
against her religious beliefs, the High Court ruled today

Lydia Playfoot: Teenage girl loses chastity ring court fight

Lydia Playfoot argued that the school authorities were violating her
right to 'freedom of thought, conscience and religion'

Lydia Playfoot, 16, claimed that the ban imposed by the Millais School
in Horsham, West Sussex, constituted "unlawful interference" with her
fundamental rights to express her Christian faith.

But in a ruling she described as "very disappointing", Michael
Supperstone, a deputy High Court judge, said that the school had not
breached the Human Rights Act.

Miss Playfoot, the daughter of a Christian minister, was one of a dozen
girls who wore the ring, which is engraved with a verse from the Bible,
to show their intention to abstain from sex until they married.

But the school told the girls to remove their rings as the wearing of
jewellery contravened its uniform policy.
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Miss Playfoot's lawyers argued in court last month that the school had
allowed Muslim and Sikh pupils to wear headscarfs and religious
bracelets, and her ring should also be regarded as a genuine religious
symbol.

They said that under Article 9 of the Human Rights Act, the expression
of religious belief had to be respected unless it broke the law or
health and safety considerations.

Judge Supperstone ruled, however, that the ring could not be regarded as
a proper Christian symbol, and therefore the school had not breached the
Act.

Miss Playfoot, who was returning from a family holiday in America today,
said in a statement: "I am very disappointed by the decision this
morning by the High Court not to allow me to wear my purity ring to
school as an expression of my Christian faith not to have sex outside of
marriage."

She said she believed the ruling "will mean that slowly, over time,
people such as school governors, employers, political organisations and
others will be allowed to stop Christians from publicly expressing and
practising their faith".

She added: "Over two years ago, I was concerned at the number of
teenagers who were catching sexually transmitted diseases, getting
pregnant and/or having abortions.

"The Government's sex education programme is not working, and the
pressure on young people to 'give in' to sex continues to increase. This
is often because of the media's focus on sex and the expectations of
others."

The headmaster, Leon Nettley, said the school was "delighted" with the
outcome but regretted that the case had gone so far.

"Any suggestion that our school is anti-Christian is not correct. We
have always respected Lydia's right to hold and express her views and
believe there were many ways in which it was possible for her to do this
during her time with us."

The judge refused the Playfoot permission to appeal, although they can
still petition the appeal court to hear their case.

He also ordered Miss Playfoot's father, Philip, to pay £12,000 towards
the secondary school's costs in fighting off the family's application
for judicial review.

The rings stem from the "Silver Ring Thing" (SRT) movement which started
in the US.

SRT rings are worn by Christian teenagers to symbolise a pledge not to
have sex before marriage and have led to an impassioned debate over
religious expression and sex education.