Posted on 12/13/2003 1:07:37 PM PST by Gritty
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Friday against a Colorado Springs high school for refusing to recognize a club that includes gays.
The lawsuit said the school has repeatedly refused to recognize the Palmer High Gay-Straight Alliance. As a result, the group may not meet on school property on the same terms as other groups, cannot post club information at the school and is omitted from the school's yearbook.
Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado ACLU, said similar clubs are operating at 50 high schools in Colorado, and that federal law requires schools to grant equal access to all student clubs,
Palmer principal Karin Reynolds said it was the school district's decision not to recognize the group.
Elaine Naleski, the district's spokeswoman, said she had not seen the lawsuit and could not discuss it. She said a district policy in place since 1995 does not recognize groups that do not have a direct link to curriculum.
Silverstein said the alliance facilitates communication between gay students, straight students, and those who question their own sexual identity.
What logical pap. Anything straight, as in, linear, or uniderectional, can not, "ally," with anything. It can only intersect or parallel. Anything straight that would bend in an alternate direction would be, ah shall we say...deviant?
I don't know whether or not the ACLU will actually succeed here -- the basic argument boils down to whether the District has the right to deny charters to certain clubs.
Here's what the local paper has to say about it:
ACLU sues Palmer over gay club
By BRENT PATTERSON - THE GAZETTE
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Friday against Palmer High School, claiming its refusal to recognize a club that includes gays and lesbians violates students’ constitutional rights.
The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of seven students who had sought to form the Gay/Straight Alliance, a school club to promote discussion with gay, lesbian and transgender teenagers.
Colorado Springs School District 11 policy since 1995 has been to limit school clubs to those directly related to courses or studies at a school.
District Superintendent Norm Ridder said Friday the club’s application was rejected because it didn’t meet the standard.
If a club’s application is rejected, it doesn’t have the same privileges to use school grounds as sponsored groups, is barred from posting information at the school about its activities or meetings and can’t use the school’s public address system.
Mark Silverstein, legal director for the Colorado ACLU, said the 1984 Equal Access Act prohibits schools from discriminating if they recognize even one club that is not class-related.
“They can’t just pick and choose,” Silverstein said.
Palmer High Principal Karin Reynolds originally said Friday she had no say in whether the Gay/Straight Alliance was approved. The application went directly to Ron Wynn, District 11 chief of staff, she said.
Reynolds backtracked later, saying the decision was made jointly by her and district officials.
District 11 policy on student clubs states they must support “positive, wholesome and school-connected activities that improve student performance and enrich the school’s environment.”
Among the sponsored clubs at Palmer this year are several for students studying foreign languages, theater arts and science.
The list also includes Ultimate Frisbee, Dance Team, Mountain Bike and Chess clubs.
Other D-11 schools sanction Native American, Latino and Crime Stoppers groups.
Ridder defended endorsing those groups last month, saying they promoted physical education, history and school safety.
“The problem that I have with a gay and lesbian club is then why not a Bible study club? A heterosexual club?” he said at that time.
“If (D-11) can prove that there are absolutely no other noncurricular based clubs in their schools, then fine,” said Tasha Hill, executive director of Colorado Springs Inside/Out Youth, an advocacy group for gays, lesbians and transgender youths. “But if they’re using this policy just to keep this club out of school, then its not fair.”
Silverstein said there are Gay/Straight Alliances at 50 high schools in Colorado and more than 2,000 nationwide.
“If the school puts club photos in the yearbook, they want to be able to have their pictures in there too,” Silverstein said. “They want to be able to have their club recognized on the same terms that other groups are recognized.”
Gay advocates say the issue goes deeper than just being recognized as a club.
“Not sponsoring these clubs sends a very strong message that these kids are second-class citizens,” Hill said. “It reinforces that negative image that they already have of themselves.”
According to a student at Lewis-Palmer High School, where a letter from the ACLU persuaded the school to reconsider its decision to disallow a Gay/Straight Alliance, club activities involve a day of silence, during which club members refrain from speaking for the day.
“It’s to show the silence that gays, lesbians and transgender people face everyday,” the girl said, asking that her name not be used.
“I think that the reason parents and schools are scared is that they think the group is out there to turn people into homosexuals, but that’s absolutely not true,” she said. “They promote acceptance and tolerance.
“Have you ever walked down a high school hallway? The stuff you hear is crazy. This club is about not having to hear ‘fag’ or ‘dyke’ every 10 minutes.”
The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of seven students who had sought to form the Gay/Straight Alliance, a school club to promote discussion with gay, lesbian and transgender teenagers.I'm sorry, how is again that straight kids fit into the "Gay/Straight Alliance?" I suspect it's more like the queer alliance ramming their agenda down the straight kids' throats.
District 11 policy on student clubs states they must support “positive, wholesome and school-connected activities that improve student performance and enrich the school’s environment.”
Okay, in the best Clintonian fashion, let's parse this, shall we?
-positive: Nuthin positive 'bout being a queer. Plenty of negatives: fatal diseases, depression, suicide - really positive, huh?
-wholesome: Nuthin wholesome either. Matter of fact it can be downright noxious and injurious.
-improve student performance: Whoops! Failed again. Wait, I suppose it depends on what kind of "performance" you're referring to :)
-enrich the school’s environment: Nope. But this potentially could lead to "fisting" siminars like they had in Mass. I for sure want my kid attending that!
Parsing is done; queers and fagots loose, as usual.
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