Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 18:04:34 -0800 From: Jean Richter Subject: 2/23/2000 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news, pt. 2 1. LA: Board gives schools the authority to approve clubs 2. CA: Temecula school board may vote to support anti-gay proposition 3. FL: Anti-gay conference organizers crying censorship ========================================================================== Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 09:29:53 -0800 From: Jessea NR Greenman Conatct info for McKinley High School 800 E McKinley St Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 Local Map East Baton Rouge Parish Administration Principal: Ms. Almenia Williams Mr. William Hanley Mr. Armond Brown Contacts Office: 504.344.7696 Fax: 504.387.5435 Baton Rouge Advocate, February 12, 2000 525 Lafayette St., Baton Rouge, LA, 70821 (Fax 504-388-0371 ) (E-MAIL: bbankston@theadvocate.com ) ( http://www.theadvocate.com ) Schools: Principals get latitude over clubs By KRISTEN KING, Advocate staff writer High school principals in East Baton Rouge Parish on Monday will have in their hands a set of rules reinforcing their authority to decide which clubs meet on their schools' campuses, board attorney Max Kees said. The regulations will keep open the possibility of the Gay Straight Alliance meeting on school campuses. But the rules also give principals the latitude to turn down the clubs, board Vice President Jackie Mims said. Kees declined to comment on specific clubs. But he said if any club is denied, the regulations will give it the ability to appeal, ultimately to the School Board. The board Thursday voted down a new policy that would have guaranteed all clubs equal access to meet on high school campuses. Board members who voted against it were the same ones who spoke out against the possibility of letting a chapter of the Gay Straight Alliance meet at school. On Friday, Kees pointed out that the board only creates policy. By rejecting the new policy Thursday, the existing policy stays in place. That policy simply encourages student participation in clubs and says "such organizations must be sponsored or approved by appropriate personnel at each individual school." It's up to the superintendent and his staff to create rules that carry out School Board policies, Kees said. The club issue arose when McKinley High senior Martin Pfeiffer's proposal to start a Gay Straight Alliance was denied in the fall. He then asked for a set of rules, but the system didn't have any. Pfeiffer could not be reached for comment Friday. He said after the board vote Thursday that he felt his rights had been "trampled on." He said he planned to contact a lawyer, but would also wait and see if the board dealt with the issue again. Kees said the rules are being tweaked some this weekend, but "will be legal according to federal and state law." The federal Equal Access Act requires all high schools that get federal funding to treat all clubs equally. Board member Jay Devall was outspoken against the Gay Straight Alliance at the board meeting Thursday. He said the Bible prohibits homosexuality. On Friday, he said he had not seen the revised regulations and hadn't yet formed an opinion about them. "It's too early for me to say, but I want to do whatever it takes to keep the Gay Alliance club from meeting on our school premises," he said. But he said he imagines that if, under the new rules, one school turned down a chapter of the Gay Straight Alliance and another didn't, the rejected club would sue the board for discrimination. Devall said that's why he tried to get his fellow School Board members to eliminate all extracurricular clubs, including service clubs, religious clubs and the Gay Straight Alliance. "I proposed what I knew the law would support," he said. Devall's proposal failed at the School Board meeting. The rules principals will get Monday do contain a few changes, including one based on a suggestion local attorney Mike Johnson made Thursday at the board meeting, Kees said. Johnson suggested a clause saying principals can deny clubs that "encourage imminent lawless action" ­ a phrase taken from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a different issue. Kees would not say how that would be an excuse for principals to deny a Gay Straight Alliance or any other specific club. But he did say that, for example, principals could block clubs calling for an immediate riot in the school or telling people to do drugs. "To incite people to commit a lawless act is something we want none of our clubs to do," he said. Mims said she believes a principal could turn down a chapter of the Gay Straight Alliance by saying it would incite a crime against nature. State law defines such crimes as, among other things, "the unnatural carnal copulation by a human being with another of the same sex or opposite sex or with an animal." The 4th Circuit Court of Appeal has struck down the law as it pertains to consenting adults who aren't engaged in prostitution. It is unclear how that ruling would apply to high school age students. Mims said even given the new "lawless action" clause in the club rules, the Gay Straight Alliance could still form "as long as they could prove and we were assured it would not promote lawless acts." [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] what marriage means. On Tuesday night the school board plans to consider a Elder- written resolution that recognizes "the importance of traditional marriage and family." "I think it's good for public officials to weigh in on these things," Elder said. "Marriage is the oldest institution in the world. Strong marriages and strong families are very important to education." On March 7, California voters will consider Prop. 22, which would recognize only heterosexual marriage. The measure is supported by a variety of legislators and church leaders who say it would protect the sanctity of traditional marriage. Gay-rights groups oppose the measure, saying it is needlessly divisive and part of a campaign to deprive homosexual partners of their rights. While Elder's resolution mirrors the language of Prop. 22, it does not explicitly endorse the ballot measure. Elder said he chose the wording carefully to avoid prohibiting a school district from backing a ballot measure that is not related to education. Nonetheless, Superintendent David Allmen recommends that the board reject Elder's resolution. A district spokeswoman said the superintendent cited state education law that prohibits a school district from using its resources to take sides in an election. Allmen also referred to a state attorney general's opinion that bars a board from campaigning on an issue outside of its jurisdiction. No school board has gone on record in support of Prop. 22, a spokeswoman for the measure said, although individual board members have loaned their names to the campaign. Elder, who has campaigned as a private citizen against a class that had lessons on multiculturalism and a Hollywood movie that he considered sacrilegious, said it is appropriate for a school board to speak out for local values. "Every time the board votes on an issue, there's values being reflected," he said. Seven people spoke at Temecula's school board meeting Feb. 1 to urge trustees to take a stand in favor of Prop. 22. The speakers said the trustees' leadership position in the community gives them a right to take a public position. Board President Rick Shafer said after the meeting that he felt uneasy injecting the board into a statewide social debate, but that he personally supports Prop. 22. "I still feel that way, but I'm going to wait until Tuesday night to see what happens," Shafer said. Shafer said he would need to hear arguments on all sides before he decides how to vote. Elder would need another board member to agree to open a discussion on the matter. Shafer said he might back Elder on simply having a discussion. The board meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the district conference rooms, 31350 Rancho Vista Road,Temecula. ================================================================================= Tampa Tribune, February 11, 2000 P. O. Box 191, Tampa, FL, 33601-4005 (Fax 813-259-8080 ) (E-MAIL: tribletters@tampatrib.com ) ( http://www.tampabayonline.net/ ) Group claims censorship of effort to "convert" gays Michelle Bearden of the Tampa Tribune TAMPA ­ A Christian group claims censorship as it tries to promote a conference aimed at preventing homosexuality. Organizers of a Christian-based conference aimed at "preventing" homosexuality in youth are no strangers to controversy. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ================================================================================= Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) These messages are archived by state on our information-loaded free web site: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/