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A group of 24 private religious schools, eight parents and a pair of non-profit groups have launched a constitutional challenge of a law that protects the privacy of students who join gay-straight alliances.

Education Minister David Eggen said Thursday he’s confident a court will uphold the law that grants students a right to start a school club and to join one without being “outed” to their family without their permission.

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An application filed Thursday in Medicine Hat Court of Queen’s Bench says the School Act, which was last fall amended by the NDP’s Bill 24, violates the applicants’ freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of association and the Charter of Rights.

“Bill 24 is a threat to the safety of vulnerable and at-risk children in Alberta,” lawyer John Carpay, who represents the applicants, told a Calgary news conference Thursday.

The private schools involved, including five from the Edmonton area, are founded on the beliefs that people are created male and female and cannot change their sex, that sexual relations are only for marriage, and that marriage is between a man and a woman, the application says.

The document said the law compels school staff to keep secrets from parents, which could lead to the sexual exploitation of children.

Eggen said Bill 24 is the law, and his government will enforce it, including withdrawing funding or accreditation from schools that fail to comply.

He said Carpay is “choosing to interfere in these basic rights to protect and create a safe and caring environment for children.”

jfrench@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/jantafrench