LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- A bill that would protect student political speech and religious expression in schools passed the Senate Thursday 31 to 2.

Part of the impetus for the bill came from the censorship of a student performance of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" by a Kentucky school superintendent in Johnson County. The school censored the part of the play in which Charles Schulz's character Linus quotes the Gospel of Luke.

The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Albert Robinson (R-London), also covers the general freedom of expression of students on matters of religion and politics in speech and on school assignments.

"We stand with Linus," said Martin Cothran, spokesman for The Family Foundation, which supports the bill. "When schools start seeing a cartoon character quoting the Bible as a threat, then things have obviously gone too far. This bill provides protections for students from the virulent secularism that increasingly threatens First Amendment freedoms in our country."

The bill now goes to the State House of Representatives.