Today, the Supreme Court announced that a governmental display of a 40-foot-tall Latin cross as a war memorial for all veterans does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The decision ignores our constitutional commitment to official religious neutrality and is a slap in the face to non-Christian veterans. There is, however, a small silver lining: The opinion itself was narrow, making clear that the ruling is not an invitation for government officials to erect new religious displays.

In American Legion v. American Humanist Association, the court concluded that the Bladensburg Cross — originally built to honor a Maryland county’s World War I dead — is constitutional for a combination of reasons, including its nearly hundred-year history and the court’s belief that the cross has somehow taken on an “added secular meaning when used in World War I memorials.” But there are several flaws in the court’s reasoning.

First, in his opinion for the majority, Justice Alito cites the rows of white crosses that memorialize fallen American service members in World War I cemeteries overseas. Yet those crosses are tied to the individual faith of each soldier. Notably, the graves of Jewish service members in those cemeteries are marked with the Star of David, not a Latin cross. That’s because the Latin cross is inextricably linked to the Christian belief in the crucifixion of Jesus, the resurrection, and the promise of eternal life—a point emphasized in friend-of-the-court briefs filed by both the Baptist Joint Committee and the American Jewish War Veterans for the United States of America. As Justice Ginsburg explains in her dissent, the Latin cross is an “exclusively Christian symbol.” It is “not emblematic of any other faith,” and it certainly has “never shed its Christian character.”

Second, the Bladensburg Cross does not stand as a memorial to fallen World War I soldiers alone. Although the cross was erected in the 1920s on private land as a World War I memorial, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission went out of its way in 1961 to acquire the cross and the land on which it sits — for the purpose of preserving the monument and, purportedly, to address traffic-safety concerns. But the Commission wasn’t satisfied with merely maintaining the cross’s connection to World War I; instead, it spent $100,000 renovating the monument, and then, in 1985, held a religious ceremony featuring prayer by a Catholic priest to rededicate the cross to veterans of all wars.

Finally, a constitutional violation shouldn’t be granted safe harbor merely because it has endured over time. The Bladensburg Cross was privately built and owned, and could have stood forever, undisturbed and without controversy. When individuals express religious beliefs or display religious symbols on private property — however prominently — it is perfectly constitutional. That changes, though, once the government decides to meddle with private religious expression by taking ownership over it. Here, the cross became a symbol of official religious preference for Christians when the Commission got involved. That the Bladensburg Cross has remained in place for so long, displayed and maintained by the government, only compounds and amplifies this message of religious exclusion.

Nevertheless, the court’s misguided focus on the monument’s age and the meaning of the cross as it relates to World War I necessarily limits the reach of today’s ruling. The decision merely permits the display of this specific monument given the unique circumstances surrounding it. It is not a license for government officials to put up religious symbols whenever and wherever they want. As the court’s majority emphasized, “retaining established, religiously expressive monuments, symbols, and practices is quite different from erecting or adopting new ones.”

Those who value the separation of church and state must remain vigilant. In rewriting the meaning of the Latin cross and treating it as a secular icon, even in these limited circumstances, the court has eroded fundamental constitutional principles. If the government can redefine the most recognizable and sacred of religious symbols and practices, and then co-opt them for official purposes, the Establishment Clause’s ban on government promotion of religion — and government preference for one faith — could soon become a relic of the past.

Daniel Mach, Director, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief
& Heather L. Weaver, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief

This feature is part of the ACLU of Florida's "LGBTQ+ Youth Activist Project" commemorating Pride Month during the month of June.

"My name is Kezia Gilyard. I'm 27-years-old. I work at Broward County Public Schools as the LGBTQ+ Coordinator."

Q: How does your work make our community a more inclusive and open place for everyone, regardless of where they come from, how they identify, or who they love?

A: "About 276,000 students are in our school district. And about fifteen percent of those are LGBTQ, so about 40,000.

"I've seen students who go from having really unsupportive dismissive, sometimes hostile families when they first come out, who end up having parents who say, 'You know you are my son. And they'll come tell me.' I've had parents send me copies of birth certificates that are updated with the correct gender marker. I've had kids who've come to our LGBTQ+ Youth Summit and use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity for the first time. Even in elementary school, our students do have a political consciousness. They do understand that these times are not safe for students like them."

Q: What do you see as the most pressing issue currently affecting LGBTQ youth? What do you think will help alleviate it?

A: "I've had a lot of transgender students in high school who say because I have an unsupportive family I know I can just go into the military when I graduate and, now there's the military ban. So, that's no longer an option. And, for a lot of them that was their only option. Because of bullying sometime they would skip school so their grades aren't where they need to be. They thought, here's this one thing that I can do with my life in a place where I know I can get quality healthcare in the military. And, that's no longer an option for a lot of them. And, that's landed a lot of my students in a very dark place.

"Hope is a fragile thing but I really do try work with those students and help them understand that there's always another way. There's always a way to get out there. I do work with quite a few students who are experiencing homelessness. So, nationally, about forty percent of homeless youth or youth experiencing homelessness are LGBTQ. So, within our school district we have quite a few homeless students and I work with the students who are LGBTQ in conjunction with our homeless department.

"And, so they also understand that the changing tide politically will have an impact on whether or not they can find safe, adequate, affordable housing in South Florida.

"We see a lot of policies that dictate what students can look like, dress like, feel like, be like. Where they can use the restroom and where they can't. Where they can use the locker room and where they can't. With the ageism, there's a certain distrust that students know what they need and what makes them feel safe and affirmed. So, there needs to be a trust and there needs to be a sharing of power at the table. And, decision making at the table for students to be able to tell adults this is what I need and this is what makes me feel safe."

Q: What message of encouragement would you like to send to LGBTQ youth who may not have the love and support to know that they are worthy and capable of being themselves, regardless of circumstance?

A: "During this Pride Month of June, 2019, on the heels of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, I will say to any youth who is experiencing discomfort, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, and all of the phobias that intersect our lives. I will say remember that you are your own person. No one can tell you who you are or who you aren't. You know who you are and it's okay if it takes you awhile to get there.

"Everyone takes a while to learn who they are, but you know who you are so, speak for yourself.

"Don't allow anyone to speak for you. And, there is nothing about us without us."

Kezia Gilyard, 27, is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

This feature is part of the ACLU of Florida's "LGBTQ+ Youth Activist Project" commemorating Pride Month during the month of June.

"My name is Jack. I'm 24-years-old and I live in Coral Springs, Florida."

Q: How does your work make our community a more inclusive and open place for everyone, regardless of where they come from, how they identify, or who they love?

A: "Right now, I work at AIDS Healthcare Foundation as a Transgender Cultural Sensitivity Intern.

"I feel like people need to know that the trans community is not a monolith, but rather something very diverse and very nuanced."

Q: What do you see as the most pressing issue currently affecting LGBTQ youth? What do you think will help alleviate it?

A: "The trans community as a whole does not have access to healthcare or competent healthcare. They don't have access to equal opportunities, and it just becomes more difficult with more nuances that comes with this person's identity or who they are as a person.

"I believe that when it comes to equal access or equal opportunity, when it comes to healthcare, trans people have to really decide whether it's even worth going to a doctor or to get tested or to get the care that they need because they struggle with the thought of even going through a traumatic, discriminatory experience. Or, going and maybe getting actual care that's not focused solely on their trans identity.

"The South Florida community thinks about the current administration's constant pullback on the rights of everybody, but also the trans community. The repeal of abortion rights affects everybody, not just women. It affects trans men who might be pregnant. It affects trans people that may be struggling with pregnancy or who want to get an abortion. It's not solely a women's issue.

"Stonewall Rising Legavcy is an organization I'm building that focuses on the empowerment and the social justice development of queer youth in South Florida. We give them the tools to feel empowered in themselves and to know that they can cause active change in their own communities, when they go back home maybe to a house that doesn't accept them.

"We're very much focused on making sure that they feel seen and making sure that they feel like they have a chance to not just survive but thrive, instead of just trying to exist in a world that they feel is not made for them. It's very much and we have to make them realize that the power is inside of them."

Q: What message of encouragement would you like to send to LGBTQ youth who may not have the love and support to know that they are worthy and capable of being themselves, regardless of circumstance?

A: "Being Black, and being queer, and being trans is very hard. But, there are more of us out there and there's people ready to love on you for who you are, specifically when it comes to your Blackness, your queer-ness, your trans-ness.

"As a Black, queer, trans, gender-nonconforming person, you're everything that the ancestors have been wanting to create."

Jack Johnson, 24, from Coral Springs, Florida.