Jessica Ahlquist (born June 21, 1995) is an American activist and public speaker who filed a lawsuit in 2012 against
Cranston High School West, where she was a student, to remove a religious prayer from its auditorium. The suit, Ahlquist v. Cranston, was filed with the assistance of the
American Civil Liberties Union, and was ultimately decided in Ahlquist's favor. During the lawsuit, Ahlquist received
hate mail and was verbally attacked by her peers, media outlets, and online. She received death threats, and required police escorts to and from classes.[1] 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".[2]
Since the lawsuit, Ahlquist has received a variety of media attention, and she has been an invited speaker at a number of events, including the
Reason Rally, the Texas Freethought Convention and
Skepticon 5.[3]
Two high-school students from other states have described their objections to
school prayer as inspired by her activism.[4] She has received a number of awards, including the 2011 Thomas Jefferson Youth Activist and the
American Humanist Association's 2012 Humanist Pioneer Award.
Early life
Jessica Ahlquist was born in 1995, and lives in
Cranston, Rhode Island. She is the oldest of four children and the daughter of a
firefighter and
nurse.[2] Ahlquist's family was religious, and she had been raised as a Catholic,[5] but after her mother fell ill, she began to identify as an
atheist.[6] She describes herself as "a nerd" who loves
Harry Potter and
Facebook.[7] When asked if the court case inspired her to get into law, she responded that law might be her future.[8]
Lawsuit
In July 2010, the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sent a letter to the school superintendent on behalf of an unnamed parent who complained about a banner at the school which contained a "school prayer."[9] After reading about the complaint, Ahlquist decided to sit in on the school board meetings. She also created a
Facebook page[10] to raise support for the cause. At an August 2010 meeting of the Cranston School Committee, a subcommittee was asked to make recommendations about the disposition of the banner; Ahlquist attended the public meetings of the subcommittee in November 2010 and February 2011. At the end of the November meeting, out of safety concerns, a police escort was provided for Ahlquist and one other person who spoke in favor of the banner's removal.[11] At a contentious meeting of the full committee, she argued the case for the removal of the banner and a similar display at Bain Middle School.[12] The committee voted 4-3 in favor of keeping the banner in place, despite a budget deficit and the threat of an ACLU lawsuit.[13]
On February 16, 2012, the Cranston School Committee decided not to appeal by a 5-2 vote.[19] 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.[20]
Threats
During the lawsuit, Ahlquist received hatemail and was verbally attacked by her peers, media outlets, and online. She received death threats, and required police escorts to and from classes.[1] An unnamed student was disciplined by the school because of threats.[21]
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".[2] In response, her supporters began selling T-shirts with the words "Evil little thing" on the front. They committed the proceeds to a college education fund established for her.[23][24] The fund raised over $62,000 which was presented to her at the
Reason Rally on March 24, 2012, where she was an invited speaker.[25][26] Ahlquist was also awarded the Humanist Pioneer Award from the
American Humanist Association.[citation needed] In 2013, she received a
Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award in the education category.[27] Religious leaders from the Rhode Island State Council of Churches rallied to defend Ahlquist and condemn the language used to describe her.[28]
After the lawsuit
Several months after the case was closed, in April 2012, Ahlquist received threatening letters in the mail from individuals describing themselves as "crusaders". Police were still investigating as of 2012.[29]
Ahlquist was an invited speaker at a number of events in 2012, spanning at least five US states and international media. She speaks at approximately one venue each month,[3] including 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.[25] There, she was introduced as the
Joan of Arc of secularism,[30][31] and presented a check for the proceeds from her T-shirt sales.[26] She also spoke at the Texas Freethought Convention in 2012.[32] Ahlquist is a frequent and popular guest on Freethought RI, a weekly radio show produced by the RI Atheist Society.[33] 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.[34][35] On August 16, 2011, she finished first place among the 2011 Best High School Individual Activist Award Winners, organized by the Secular Student Alliance.[36]
On February 21, 2012, Ahlquist was interviewed live on
CNN about the Cranston case.[37][38]
On June 9, 2012, the
American Humanist Association honored Ahlquist with the 2012 Humanist Pioneer Award, which was presented to her at the 71st annual American Humanist Association conference in
New Orleans.[45][46]
On August 19, 2012, Ahlquist was given the Judge George Alexander Teitz Award, for "commitment to the ideals of religious and ethnic tolerance and freedom" by the
Touro Synagogue Foundation in Newport, Rhode Island.[47]
^Jessica "Evil Little Thing" Ahlquist on CNN, Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
[1]
^"STARTING POINT WITH SOLEDAD O'BRIEN", CNN transcripts February 21, 2012
[2]
^"Jessica Ahlquist, Atheist, Receives Threats Over Prayer Banner Ruling; School Board May Appeal", January 28, 2012, Huffington Post
[3][permanent dead link]
^"Winners Announced for 2013 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards". Reuters. Reuters. May 15, 2013. Archived from
the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2015. Jessica Ahlquist, a Rhode Island high-school student, who is being honored with a Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award in the Education category