Lubbock School District Vows Vigorous Defense in Gay Rights Lawsuit

Lubbock Independent School District trustees needed one hour Monday to reach a consensus: They will fight a federal lawsuit filed against the district and top officials by a national gay civil rights organization.

"Based upon the discussions we've had, the board directed me to direct our counsel to vigorously defend the case and file an answer in this cause," LISD Board of Trustees president Mark Griffin said Monday.

An attorney for the gay civil rights group said the LISD decision is disappointing, but not surprising.

"I would hope they would recognize the law is not on their side in this point," said Brian Chase of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc. "If that's their decision, that's their decision."

LISD attorney Ann Manning said the district has a July 30 deadline to submit its response to the lawsuit filed July 8 in U.S. District Court in Lubbock.

Lambda Legal, based in New York City, filed the lawsuit after LISD officials denied a written student request to form a noncurricular club called the Lubbock High School Gay-Straight Alliance. The district had also denied a student request in November to post fliers in Lubbock High School for a group calling itself Gay and Proud Youth.

The lawsuit claims the LISD has violated students' rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution as well as the Equal Access Act and the Civil Rights Act.

Under the Equal Access Act, secondary schools that receive federal funds and allow noncurricular student groups to meet on campus are prohibited from discriminating against groups based on their viewpoints.

The lawsuit has been assigned to federal Judge Sam Cummings. He will determine the lawsuit timetable after the LISD files its response, Manning said.

Manning and Mike McCauley, both from the Lubbock firm of McWhorter Cobb & Johnson, made a presentation to the LISD board in a one-hour closed session Monday morning. Board members Gordon Wilkerson and Linda DeLeon did not attend the meeting.

"I think the board had an understanding of kind of what to expect," Griffin said in the LISD's first public response to the lawsuit.

"Our legal counsel did a very good job of precisely laying out the options that existed. So it didn't take us very long to come to that consensus.

"We didn't take a vote. It was just based upon discussions and what I perceived to be the consensus of the members there. There was no vote taken, which is not required."

Griffin said the LISD has no set amount of money it is willing to spend defending the suit. The district spent about $100,000 during three weeks of court battles in April 2002 to retain Lubbock High School's academic decathlon state title.

The district also has not determined how far in the court system it is willing to take the latest case.

"We'll be filing an answer and, to the full extent we can, defend our position," Griffin said. "I think the community can draw their own conclusion of what we mean by that. We feel strongly about our position."

He declined to comment when asked why trustees want to fight the lawsuit. The reasons "go to the litigation itself," he said.

He said the LISD has insurance that covers the district and individuals named as defendants.

In addition to Havens and Hardin, former Supt. Jack Clemmons is listed as a defendant.

Chase and plaintiff Mirah Curzer, a Lubbock High School student, have estimated that 15 to 20 students wanted to join the Gay-Straight Alliance.

Lambda Legal has helped win high-profile gay civil rights cases against several school districts, fighting anti-gay violence and student-group cases.

It helped win Gay-Straight Alliance lawsuits in California and Utah. In the latter, the state of Utah spent about $250,000 defending the Salt Lake City school district.

The Gay-Straight Alliance lawsuit against the LISD is the first of its kind filed by Lambda Legal in Texas. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a similar lawsuit in January for students at Klein High School in suburban Houston; that lawsuit was settled in March.

There are Gay-Straight Alliances or similar student clubs at about 30 Texas schools and more than 1,600 schools nationwide, according to the Web site www.glesn.org and The Associated Press.

Asked if the LISD lawsuit be settled without going to court, Griffin said: "I don't know. It's up to the other party, I guess. We're defending the lawsuit. We didn't bring it, so we don't control that.

"I think there will be discussions. But, boy, the response I got from my board members was to vigorously defend this case."

Yeah Lubbock! Kick Ass & damned their names!

It is time to TOSS these damned lawyers out of your home. They have no use other than to be the bottom feeders of society!

LAWYERS are who WRITE LAWS - they ENFORCE LAWS - they adjudicate the law - they DESTROY AMERICA with their double-speak trash!

SEPERATE the POWERS - Lawyers, as member of the JUDICIARY BRANCH are not allowed to be members of the EXECUTIVE nor the LEGISLATIVE branch of government!

They are the main cause of the moral break-down of this society!

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3 posted on 7/15/2003, 12:59:14 PM by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)

I can't imagine having a club in high school, celebrating sexual orientation/preferences. Next it will be demand for a pedophilia club, S&M club, etc. Where is all this BS going to take this nation? Scary.

This is why I choose to live in Texas.

They may not win, but the heck with ousiders coming into their community and trying to tell them what to do.

"Under the Equal Access Act, secondary schools that receive federal funds and allow noncurricular student groups to meet on campus are prohibited from discriminating against groups based on their viewpoints"

I am having trouble believing that. Don't they mean "are prohibited from discriminating against groups whose viewpoints are politically correct?"

I am pretty sure the law will allow certain "viewpoints" to be discriminated against.

"I can't imagine having a club in high school, celebrating sexual orientation/preferences"

Hardly seems appropriate does it? Some high school kids are pretty young and immature.

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