User:Pereant antiburchius/Jessica Ahlquist

Jessica Ahlquist (born June 21, 1995) is a student at public high school Cranston High School West, outspoken atheist, American civil liberties campaigner and LGBT rights activist.

Cranston High School West court case
Ahlquist is best known as a plaintiff in the case Ahlquist v. Cranston, a lawsuit she succesfully filed again Cranston High School West, with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union. . In July 2010, Ahlquist informed the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union about a mural addressed to "Our Heavenly Father" that was displayed in the auditorium of her school. Ahlquist says the banner made her feel "ostracized and out of place." The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island ruled that the "school prayer" banner was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution and ordered its immediate removal.

On February 16, 2012, the Cranston School Committee decided not to appeal by a 5-2 vote. The banner was removed, intact, during the first weekend in March, and the school and city agreed to pay the ACLU $150,000 in legal fees.

Reception
At the hearing, conservative Christian U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Rene Lagueux remarked that Ahlquist "is clearly an articulate and courageous young woman, who took a brave stand, particularly in light of the hostile response she has received from her community".

Religious leaders from the Rhode Island State Council of Churches rallied to condemn the language used to describe Ahlquist. The organization's executive minister, Rev. Dr. Donald Anderson attended Cranston West when the banner went up; he supported Judge Lagueux’s decision.

On the day following the ruling, Rhode Island State Representative Peter G. Palumbo spoke on a local radio show and referred to Ahlquist as "an evil little thing". While the supporters of the banner raised funds for the preservation of the banner in the event of its ordered removal by selling t-shirts with the banner's full text, on initiative of Blogger blogger Hemant Mehta, Ahlquist's supporters raised funds with Evil little thing t-shirts, the proceeds going to a college education fund established for her. The fund raised $62,618 which was presented to her at the Reason Rally on March 24, 2012, where she was an invited speaker.

When Wisconsin based freethought organization Freedom From Religion Foundation wanted to send Ahlquist roses, three seperate florists denied the request. The group has filed a complaint with Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights and given Ahlquist $13,000 from support and scholarship funds.

Upon learning of the results of the case, some residents of Cranston, and others opposed to the decision and to Ahlquist's atheism, took their anger out on her on Twitter and Facebook. Police involvement has increased, both escorting Ahlquist to classes and investigating threats, mostly originating in Cranston. An unnamed student was disciplined by the school because of threats.

LGBT equality
Ahlquist has used her new found notoriety to also speak out for LGBT issues in conjunction with Marriage Equality Rhode Island, a group dedicated to establishing same-sex marriage as the law in her state. She has begun to work with the Secular Student Alliance to form a humanist/atheist student group in her school.

Threat letter
On February 17 2012, one day after the school board's decission not to appeal to the judge's decission, Ahlquist received a handwritten letter by email. She initially posted a photograph of the letter via her public Twitter account on April 11, 2012, but removed it the same day on directions of the police. The full text of the letter (poor grammar and spelling copied from the original) reads:

The threat is currently under police investigation.

Christian website ChristWire reported that Ahlquist blames the threat on Christians, although their source for this statement is unknown. In the same article ChristWire calls Ahlquist an "arrogant and proud devil worshiper".

Woonsocket memorial cross
There is an ongoing debate about the possible removal of a veterals memorial cross in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Ahlquist, who was initially accused by some of having involvement, was unaware of the debate. After reviewing the case, she announced she supports the removal of the memorial.

Personal life
Jessica is the daughter of firefighter Mark Ahlquist and a nurse. She is also the niece of Steve Ahlquist who did an hour long interview with Jessica in episode #03 of his Philosophy On the Ground series on Youtube. Ahlquist has been raised religious, but after her mother got sick, she’d begun to identify as atheist. She rejected the God she felt had abandoned her. She describes herself as "a nerd" who loves Harry Potter and Facebook. When asked if the court case inspired her to get into law, she reponded that she's going to study communications in college, but law might be her future.

Media, appearances, awards
Despite her young age, Ahlquist is frequently invited to speak at secularist and atheism oriented events and shows, spanning at least five US states and international media. John Figdor of the Secular Student Alliance stated "she's a role model to so many young people". JT Eberhard of the same organisation called for nominating Ahlquist for the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal. Singer Meat Loaf however, has criticized Ahlquist stating "Jessica Ahlquist is what’s wrong with America".

Ahlquist is a frequent and popular guest on Freethought RI, a weekly radio show produced by the RI Atheist Society. On June 25, 2011 she was a speaker at Center for Inquiry transnational in Amherst, New York and on February 6, 2012 in Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, Arizona, professor Richard Dawkins specifically discussed the threats Jessica Ahlquist had been receiving. On August 16, 2011, she finished first place among the 2011 Best High School Individual Activist Award Winners, organized by the Secular Student Alliance. On October 8, 2011, the Freedom From Religion Foundation awarded her the 2011 Thomas Jefferson Youth Activist.

On Februari 21, 2012, Ahlquist was interviewed live on CNN about the Cranston case. Ahlquist spoke at Moving Secularism Forward: Council for Secular Humanism Conference 2012, (March 1–4, 2012) in Orlando, Florida. She was invited as a speaker at the Reason Rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on March 24, 2012, the largest gathering of atheists in history, alongside Richard Dawkins, Adam Savage, Eddie Izzard, Paul Provenza, PZ Myers, Dan Barker and James Randi. She was introduced as the Joan of Arc of secularism. On April 26 2012, Ana Kasparian and John Iadarola discussed the hatemail at Ahlquist's address in TYTUniversity, a spin-off from The Young Turks.

The American Humanist Association has chosen Ahlquist to offer her the 2012 Humanist Pioneer Award, which will be awarded to her on June 9, 2012 at the 71st annual American Humanist Association conference in New Orleans.

External resources

 * Jessica Ahlquist personal website
 * Jessica Ahlquist personal Twitter, Ahlquist's microblog with nearly 15,000 followers.