Texas state officials are supporting the high school cheerleaders in a Texas town fighting for their right to put Bible quotes on banners during their football games.
A ruling from a Texas judge on the matter is expected Thursday, according to the Washington Post via the Associated Press.
The case revolves around Kountze High School in Kountze, Texas, a small town with a roughly estimated population of more than 2,100 northeast of Houston.
Last month, school district officials ordered cheerleaders to stop using Bible verses on banners at their high school football games after receiving complaints from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, a nonprofit committed to the ideal of the separation of church and state.
The Wisconsin-based atheist group complained to the school district that the slogans were inappropriate. The Los Angeles Times reported that according to Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the group, the complaint originated from an unnamed non-Christian individual in the town-who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation-that regularly attended games at the school and was "quite shocked" by the banners.
However, the parents of the cheerleaders responded with a lawsuit against the school district n Hardin County district court in September, CBS News reports, where State District Judge Steve Thomas granted the school a temporary injunction on the school's order while he could consider the arguments.
On Wednesday, former Presidential candidate and current Texas Gov. Rick Perry joined with state Attorney General Greg Abbott at a press conference in announcing that they supported the cheerleaders in this issue while accusing the foundation of being intolerant.
"We will not allow atheist groups from outside of the state of Texas to come into the state, to use menacing and misleading intimidation tactics to try to bully schools to bow down at the altar of secular beliefs," Abbott said Wednesday.
"In a twisting of logic, many of these people insist on silencing the religious in the cause of tolerance. Where's the tolerance in that?" Perry said afterwards. "Where's the tolerance in threatening school officials, or entire districts, simply because some cheerleaders at a football game paint Biblical phrases on a banner?"
"These students, or anyone expressing their faith, should be celebrated, from my perspective," Perry added.
"We're very thankful for them standing up for our rights," said Macy Matthews, one of the teen cheerleaders at the high school told the Los Angeles Times afterwards of her feelings on the governor's support.
The foundation fired back later that day with a statement, where they accused Abbott of "using his government bully pulpit to bully and scapegoat atheists."
"The reprehensible actions of the governor and attorney general are the very reason our founders adopted a First Amendment - to keep local majorities from tyrannizing the minorities, and government officials from using their offices to promote religion," the foundation's statement read.
A statement from Kountze Superintendent Kevin Weldon, posted on the school district's web site, stated that the district was glad to have the opportunity to explain their position in court, and would await the judge's ruling.
"While we wait for the court's ruling, the district will continue to focus on the important business of education, which must be our top priority," the statement read.