Posted on 11/17/2006 9:44:39 AM PST by Teflonic
An Okeechobee High School senior and the club she helped form to promote tolerance of lesbians and gay men has sued the school principal and the Okeechobee County School Board, claiming they wrongfully prohibited the club from meeting on school grounds.
Yasmin Gonzalez, 17, who is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, argues that the school's failure to recognize the Gay-Straight Alliance of Okeechobee High School and allow it to meet at the school violates the federal Equal Access Act.
According to her complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Miami, the federal law mandates that if a school allows one non-curricular group to meet on campus, it must allow all other non-curricular groups to meet there.
The ACLU has brought similar cases before other courts, which invariably have ruled in favor of gay-straight alliances' access to campuses, said Robert Rosenwald of the ACLU of Florida, the lead counsel in the case.
"There's nothing very new in this case," Rosenwald said. "The school is taking a legally indefensible stance, simply out of anti-gay bigotry."
A receptionist for Toni Wiersma, the principal at Okeechobee High, referred calls to Assistant Superintendent Ken Kenworthy, who would say little about the case.
"We're very guarded in what we do say simply in that we don't want anything to be misinterpreted," Kenworthy said.
School Board Chairman David Williams said he was aware of the controversy at the high school but said the board never discussed it as a group. School Board member Gay Carlton said, "I guess I just didn't realize it was that big of a problem."
Gonzalez and a handful of other students tried in September to form the gay-straight alliance to provide a safe environment for students to talk about homophobia and to promote tolerance of one another, regardless of sexual orientation.
The school often has been intolerant of gay students, Gonzalez said. Last year, she was unable to take her girlfriend to the prom because students buying tickets had to say whom they planned to take as a date. Tickets weren't sold to same-sex couples, a policy that was announced over the school's intercom system, she said.
This year, Gonzalez said, she was able to take her girlfriend to the homecoming dance because the tickets were sold individually. But discrimination against gay students hasn't stopped, she said.
Recently, she was sent to the principal's office because she kissed her girlfriend in school, even though teachers routinely turn a blind eye to heterosexual couples kissing, Gonzalez said.
"There's a lot of discrimination in our school and in our community. I know it wouldn't stop, but I thought it could help," Gonzalez said of forming the alliance.
She and the other students retained a faculty adviser and sought the approval of Wiersma, as required by school district policy. But the principal kept brushing them off, Gonzalez said.
In mid-October, Wiersma refused to recognize the club, citing contradictory reasons, Rosenwald said. The principal said the school didn't allow any non-curricular clubs on campus. When Gonzalez pointed out there were several others, Wiersma reportedly said the school had too many.
The school's handbook, accessible on the school's Web site, officially recognizes several non-curricular clubs, including the Art Club, Poetry Club and Future Business Leaders of America.
A Nov. 2 article in the Okeechobee News suggests another reason the alliance was rejected. Superintendent Patricia Cooper was quoted as saying, "We are an abstinence-only district and we do not condone or promote any type of sexual activity."
The same article reported that Cooper said the gay-straight alliance was rejected because of unrest on campus after fights broke out several weeks ago.
Gonzalez agrees that there were fights on campus, but she said they were not related to the gay-straight alliance.
Cooper did not return phone calls seeking comment.
More than 60 students have joined the gay-straight alliance, which has held meetings at a public library and a Pizza Hut, Gonzalez said. "But a lot of kids can't get rides," she said.
Such clubs are not uncommon in the United States More than 3,000 gay-straight alliances are registered with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, including five in Palm Beach County, according to Daryl Presgraves, a spokesman for the network.
There are no gay-straight alliances in Martin County public schools, a school district spokeswoman said.
In St. Lucie County, Lincoln Park Academy has the only gay-straight alliance, district spokeswoman Janice Karst said. In two years, the alliance has been without controversy, drawing only one complaint from a parent who did not know the federal Equal Access Act allowed the club to meet on campus, Karst said.
Many people misunderstand the purpose of the alliances, said Eliza Byard, deputy executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. "Gay-straight alliances, as their names suggest, are not just gay student clubs."
The alliances give all students, regardless of sexual orientation, a chance to discuss issues such as homophobia and gender identity, Byard said.
Gonzalez said she has had second thoughts about the lawsuit because of the negative reactions of some teachers. But she has been encouraged by the support of many students.
"Being alone as one person, it's a lot harder to get things done," she said, explaining why she thinks it's important to have a gay-straight alliance at school.
Among her supporters is classmate Amber Sewell, who said, "Our principal is just being a coward" not to allow the alliance.
"Everyone should have equal opportunities," said Sewell, a senior who is not gay and is a member of the alliance. "Maybe for gay students, boys and girls together is weird to them, just like girls with girls and boys with boys is weird to other people."
Rosenwald said the school board will have 20 days to respond to the complaint filed Wednesday.
The student is at taxpayer expense padding her resume for college scholarships.
"We really wanted a place to, like, get together, and... you know, get high and listen to music," Gonzalez said. /sarcasm
"the federal law mandates that if a school allows one non-curricular group to meet on campus, it must allow all other non-curricular groups to meet there."
Uhhh, yeah. Right. Where do I start with this?
Really, can students start a KKK club and meet on school grounds?
Are there any NON-school curriculum related clubs meeting on grounds? Other than math club, debate, chess, choir and the like? If not, couldn't the school have a right to NOT sanction based on liability? What if someone slips and falls?
A club to support deviant sexual behavior has every right to meet on school grounds. NAMBLA, beastophiles, the homopeds and all the rest deserve equal access in the name of progressive learning, tolerance and sensitivity to the needs of the mentally disturbed.
Signed,
Disgusted, but Progressive
Another progressive and potential club member:
Man accused of having sex with dead deer
(startribune.com) Prosecution of a case involving alleged sexual contact with a dead deer may hinge on the legal definition of the word "animal.'' Bryan James Hathaway, 20, of Superior, Wis., faces a misdemeanor charge of sexual gratification with an...
"the school's failure to recognize the Gay-Straight Alliance of Okeechobee High School"
OK, so it's not even really a club, it's just some lesbian kid making waves. The media is just helping her by acting as if this club really exists. Almost fooled me.
I am a polygamist and believe in arranged marriages. When can I start my club?
Art Club, Poetry Club, and Future Business Leaders of America
I live about twenty miles east of here and am somewhat suprised that the local rednecks haven't beat these folks to a pulp.
SOme school districts have stopped all after school activities rather then allow these preverts to meet. Wouldn't be suprised if this happens here.
And no I am not advocating beating the snot out of them, just tired of the aclu and others pushing the homosexual agenda on the majority.
No, those are all class-related. Art, English and Typing. I mean something not taught there, like chess.
Or the interpretation of what constitutes a "favored group" may have to be changed in certain fundamental aspects.
Precedent be damned. The law is whatever a lawyer can get the judge to agree to, by interpretation of the words of the statute. That interpretation stands until a higher court may be convinced to overturn the judgment. And that judgment may or may not be based on precedent.
Okeechobee is one of the last remnants of Old Florida, but too close to Miami to survive.
Absolutely! But good luck starting a Republican, Christian or ROTC club...
When the 14th Amendment was passed everybody who voted for it said it was meant to require acceptance of sodomy, especially by the young. To make states teach the young there are no good moral standards.
For a hundred years those words of the authors and ratifiers of the 14th Amendment have been quoted in court decisions...
(Just kidding, nothing of the sort was ever intended. This is all an invention of liberal judges- who, as they say, know better.)
Never mind that, I am a Christian. I'll be starting my club now...NOT. The ACLU would never allow that, I'm sure.
The fact they did not include GSA is intentional. There are child advocacy groups which use automateed clipper services in looking for the activities of the GSA and specifically GLSEN. The writers who are on this "gay" topics are instructed to minimize the use of the words GSA or GLSEN in the initial parts of the stories so that they don't get hits by the clippers or nexus/lexis.
GLSEN is actually the driving force of this so called club. The GSA is a blatent recruiting arm of the homosexual recruiters. They are they specifically to encourage and promote recreational sex.
they have been caught on tape at http://www.forthechildreninc.com . Everyone can hear the GLSEN people telling teachers how to use the GSA clubs to encourage explicit sexual experimentation.
This is not a "gay" club, this is an explicit sex club. This needs to be put out. In fact it is unfortunate the school does not defend with transcrips from the http://www.forthechildreninc.com audio tapes.
Good lord. The criminalization of everyone over everything continues. Is it now illegal to bang a mudhole if there's an ant in it?
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