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Georgia School Board To Allow Gay Student
Group Posted: March 22, 2005 2:02 pm ET |
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(Atlanta, Georgia) A Georgia school district that refused to allow the formation of a campus gay-straight alliance club has reversed its decision and will allow the students to meet. School administrators at White County High School in Cleveland, Georgia initially said that they would not allow the club to form when students approached them in January about starting a GSA chapter. After the students presented documents outlining the school's legal obligation to recognize the club, school officials indicated they may change their position but the school board began stalling on a final decision after news of the club became public. The school continued to stall while disapproving community members demanded that the school ignore its obligation under the Federal Equal Access Act to allow the club to form. The ACLU of Georgia stepped in and negotiated on the students' behalf, bringing about today's announcement. "I can't tell you how relieved I am that the board is finally going to do the right thing and let us create a safe space for gay students at my school," said Kerry Pacer, a 16-year-old lesbian who decided to form the club with friends in an attempt to counteract what she described as rampant anti-gay harassment at the school. "I understand that not everyone supports this club, and those people have a right to their opinion. But we also have a right to exist, and nobody's rights should be trampled on," she said. The Federal Equal Access Act requires schools to treat gay-straight alliances as they would any other school group. Federal courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of GSAs where schools tried to block their formation, upholding students' right to form the groups in Salt Lake City, Utah; Orange County, California; Franklin Township, Indiana; and Boyd County, Kentucky. Today's agreement comes after several weeks of negotiation between the school and the ACLU of Georgia. Beth Littrell, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Georgia, applauded Pacer for her role in starting the GSA. "Kerry Pacer has endured a great deal of discrimination at White County High School - she's been called names, she's been booed at a school assembly, she's been punished for wearing a gay-positive t-shirt, and she's been harassed by her classmates - and rather than remain silent, she has bravely stood up for her rights and the rights of every other gay student in her community." Littrell, who also runs the ACLU of Georgia's Sticks and Stones Project, which focuses on protecting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered students, added, "Kerry and her friends understood that their rights were being violated, refused to be silenced no matter how unpopular their views may be, and understood that there is a real need for a GSA at their school." Legislation under consideration by the Georgia legislature would require high school students to get written parental permission before taking part in extracurricular activities. (story) Although it does not specifically target clubs for LGBT students it was requested by lawmakers who have tried for several years to squelch gay student support groups in Georgia high schools. | ||
