Judge rules gay-straight high school group can legally meet; not a “sex-based” club
Just in time for the protest at the Rowan County Board of Education in North Carolina, planned by the ACLU of North Carolina, a judge in Florida has ruled that gay-straight student organizations are not “sex-based” clubs and do not violate abstinence only education curricula.
From an ACLU press release:
Federal Judge Rules Okeechobee, FL Students Can Form Gay-Straight Alliance Club (4/6/2007)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.orgIn a Legal First, Judge Finds GSA Is Not a “Sex-Based” Club; Doesn’t Conflict with Abstinence-Only Education
OKEECHOBEE, FL - The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today welcomed a district court decision ordering Okeechobee High School to officially recognize and allow equal access to the Okeechobee High School Gay Straight Alliance.
“This decision sends a clear message to other schools that they face a similar fate in federal court if they choose to discriminate by deliberately misrepresenting GSAs as something they’re not,” said lead attorney Rob Rosenwald, Director of the ACLU of Florida’s LGBT Advocacy Project and John C. Graves Fellow. “Violence and harassment against gay students is a rampant problem in Florida.”
“This is great news,” added Yasmin Gonzalez, an ACLU plaintiff and president of the Okeechobee GSA. “I am so glad that we’re going to be allowed to meet on campus just like kids in other clubs already do,” “Even though I am graduating this year, I now know that by standing up to intolerance today, future students at OHS will benefit from a more open environment and not have to endure the same treatment from our school in the future.”
The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge K. Michael Moore is the first to find that GSAs are not by definition “sex-based” clubs, rejecting the school’s argument that the club that would violate its abstinence-only education policy. The order was granted primarily on the basis that the Federal Equal Access Act requires schools that allow any extracurricular club to meet on campus to allow all clubs to meet on campus. The ACLU has won other recent GSA victories across the nation, from Madera, California to White County, Georgia. This was also the first time a federal court has heard an Equal Access Act challenge in Florida.
Read the whole press release and read the preliminary injunction.
This ruling is MAJORLY important because the protest at the Rowan County Board of Education will focus on the policy they adopted last year banning “sex-based” clubs such as gay-straight alliances.
For more information on the protest (which will involve simply speaking to the Board of Education) see this past post.
Technorati Tags: Rowan County, Salisbury, North Carolina, Board of Education, high school, ACLU
Matt, 22, is an LGBT journalist, activist and youth advocate currently living and working in Charlotte, N.C., where he serves as the Editor of Q-Notes, the Carolinas' LGBT news source. A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Matt attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is still continuing to pursue his bachelors degree. He is the Owner & Editor of InterstateQ.com and has been active in LGBT advocacy work since the age of 14.
View all posts by Matt