A federal judge has ordered Michigan's Ann Arbor Public Schools to pay the $102,000 legal bill for a former student whose religious and free speech rights were violated.
Judge Gerald Rosen ruled that school officials wrongly excluded Elizabeth Hansen's Roman Catholic views from a discussion about gays and religion, and only invited pro-gay clerics.
Hansen, then a senior, alleged that school officials refused her request to include a clergyman on the panel to present a view in keeping with her Catholic beliefs.
She said school officials only wanted to present the view that religion and homosexuality are compatible.
School officials argued that Hansen failed to attend the required planning sessions or provide the name of a clergy member to represent her viewpoint.
They also said she had the chance to participate in other panel discussions, address the student assembly and submit questions for the panel.