Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 17:46:50 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 4/10/2000 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news, pt. 2 1. NY: Magazine article on GSAs 2. VA: Teen allowed to take same-sex date to prom 3. MN: More on controversy around "It's Elementary" showing ========================================================================== From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 20:25:58 EST Subject: NYS School Board Asociation: Gay Student Clubs Msg fwd by: The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020 Email to: saratogany@aol.com "The Actual or Perceived GLBT Student Protection Project" ========================================================= This message has been distributed as a free informational service for the expressed interest of non-profit research and educational purposes only. New York State School Board Asociation School Board News Issues in Education (03/20/00) 'Welcome' may be only legal response to formation of gay student clubs Such clubs can't be banned if noncurricular clubs are allowed School boards across the country are making news these days as gay students request permission to create clubs. Although hundreds of school districts have permitted such clubs to meet, some school boards have resisted and found themselves facing lawsuits or considering policy changes. The 1984 federal Equal Access Act states that in most circumstances, school districts that allow noncurriculum-related clubs to meet on secondary school property must allow all such groups similar access. "The federal Equal Access Act prohibits school districts from picking and choosing which groups may organize and meet," said NYSSBA General Counsel Jay Worona. "If a school district gives meeting privileges to any noncurriculum-related student club, such as a chess club, it generally cannot preclude other student-run clubs to meet, regardless of how board members or administrators might feel about those clubs." There are only two ways a school board can legally stop a student club from forming on campus: by proving that the club disrupts the school's education program, or by adopting a policy that allows only curriculum-related clubs and activities on school property. A forum for gay students Organizations like the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) say aside from constitutionality issues, these student-run clubs can provide a source of support for students who experience bullying from fellow students for their sexual orientation. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students report "experiences with verbal, physical, and sexual harassment and assault in school," according to a study by GLSEN, an organization associated with the grassroots Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA). According to the survey, 91 percent of gay students said they regularly heard homophobic comments at school and 97 percent of the time teachers hearing the remarks fail to respond. More than two-thirds of the gay students said they had been verbally, physically or sexually harassed because of their sexual orientation, half of them on a daily basis, the study found. Gay students say that forming a club provides support, friendship and respite in their often-hostile high school hallways. "The most important thing a Gay-Straight Alliance can ever do is make just one person feel less like an outcast and more accepted," a 17-year-old student told the American School Board Journal. In 1998 the GLSEN knew of 99 GSAs in U.S. high schools. A year later more than 600 groups had registered with GLSEN. It is unknown how many groups have formed without registering with GLSEN. Open or closed forum? School administrators are responsible for developing procedures to register and regulate student groups or clubs. Typically, a student group is required to submit a list of members designated as contacts, a copy of its constitution and/or bylaws and copies of the constitution and bylaws of any off-campus group with which it may be affiliated. In the context of student-run clubs, the courts have recognized two types of forums that school districts can create: A "limited open forum" allows all noncurricular student activities, regardless of religious or political content, to have the same opportunities as any other such activity to operate on school grounds. A "closed forum" allows only curriculum-related extracurricular activities to organize or meet on school grounds. To qualify as curriculum-related, the subject matter of the group must either be taught in a regularly scheduled course or must apply to the curriculum as a whole. Alternatively, the group can be sanctioned if participation in the group is a course requirement or academic credit is earned through participation. Most New York school districts have limited open forum policies and are required to abide by the Equal Access Act. Although not yet tested in New York, elsewhere in the nation gay student groups are finding shelter in the law and forcing school districts to sanction their clubs: In 1998 students at Smoky Hill High in Aurora, Colo. sued the school board to win recognition of a gay-straight club. The board agreed to students' demands before a judge heard the case. Students at Mauldin High in Greenville, S.C. received approval for their club after threatening to sue the school board in 1996. Last year, a school board in Manchester, N.H. altered its decision and permitted a group to meet at West High only after students threatened a lawsuit. California's Orange County Unified School District is the most recently publicized district to face a lawsuit. Students say the school board violated their free speech rights by forbidding their proposed gay support club at El Modena High School to meet after school, while allowing others that privilege. Backed by GLSEN, the club's organizers asked a federal court to allow the club to meet while the discrimination suit is pending. Judge David Carter granted the students' request, ruling that without "the threat of a litigation and court-ordered enforcement of the students' rights, (school officials) were unlikely ever to recognize the club." In light of the ruling, the school board has since decided to eliminate all noncurricular clubs for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, thereby closing the forum for those students. They also voted unanimously to require that high school students have at least a 2.0 grade-point average and to get written permission from their parents to join any campus club. In addition, all clubs will be prohibited from discussing sexual activity during their meetings beginning on July 1. "Whether the board's policy initiatives in this area are constitutional will ultimately be determined by the courts," Worona said. In a similar case in 1996, students asserted that the school board in Salt Lake City banned all extracurricular activities rather than permit a gay-straight club, but the move was upheld in federal court. As a result, some 46 clubs, including Students Against Drunk Driving and the Latino Student Alliance, were forced to move their meetings off school property. The Locust Valley School District in Nassau County has a closed forum policy that was put in place in 1992. School board member Thomas Mohen speculates that the policy was educationally appropriate at the time but he said the policy will be reviewed in the near future to see if a closed forum is still necessary. "At that time there were serious problems with the adequacy of student performance here. It may have been a way to increase academics and to reign students in," Mohen told On Board. He said he is certain the policy had nothing to do with the types of clubs in which the students were involved. Social fears and media attention Gay clubs are getting media attention because homosexuality is a topic that evokes a wide range of emotional responses and human emotion attracts an audience. Part of the problem surrounding the El Modena High School situation in California involves the school board's decision to hold a public forum to gather opinions regarding the creation of a gay club at the school. The fear most often expressed during the El Modena battle was that the GSA would promote homosexuality at the school. The People for the American Way Foundation accused the board of discrimination for singling out the gay club for a public forum. "The school board should be protecting these kids, not setting them up for public ridicule at a community meeting," foundation president Carole Shields said in a press release before the event. "The school board should use (the public forum) as an opportunity to educate the community that these students have a right to meet." NYSSBA General Counsel Worona said the decision to create a limited open forum or a closed forum should be based upon an examination of whether it is consistent with the mission of the school district to allow students to meet on a broad range of issues. It should not be based on whether a particular club has a message or stand that board members condone. If a limited open forum exists, a school board's role in approving a new student club is ministerial, Worona said. That is, it's a legal duty that must be performed once certain facts have been gathered and without the exercise of personal judgment or discretion. Should students in your district propose a gay-straight club, there is also a public relations aspect to consider. The public controversy surrounding El Modena has disrupted the school environment. Students interviewed in the Orange County Register expressed a variety of opinions, including disinterest, about the club. Many said they just wanted the media to leave their campus. "Most people (at El Modena) don't really care about the club," one 16-year-old told the Register. "It would have been easier if the district had just let them have the club and not gotten the media into it." ================================================================ Things to consider while determining whether a student-initiated club should be allowed in your district: Does the proposed club fit the mold of what the Federal Equal Access Act is intended to protect? That is, could it be construed as political, religious or philosophical in nature? Is there someone willing to monitor the club? For safety and security reasons, you need to ensure that an adult is monitoring the group. Have you overstepped your boundaries? Arbitrarily picking and choosing clubs to deem acceptable is illegal. Have you examined your policy? Ensure that your decisions regarding controversial clubs have been consistent with your written policy on the subject. Can you say with certainty that the club could cause material and substantial classroom disruption? Source: Your School and the Law newsletter, Jan.17, 2000 ================================================================================= ROANOKE TIMES, March 30, 2000 P. O. Box 2491, Roanoke, VA, 24010 (Fax 703-981-3204 ) (E-MAIL: response@roanoke.infi.net ) (http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes ) ACLU questions Floyd County policy Girl OK'd to take girlfriend to prom "They were perfectly willing to ruin my first prom because they ... did not want same-sex couples there," Tiffany Lapine says. By ISAK HOWELL, THE ROANOKE TIMES Floyd County school officials decided a high school junior can take her girlfriend to the junior prom, following an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ================================================================================ Post-Bulletin, March 23, 2000 Box 6118, Rochester, MN, 55903 (Fax-507-285-7772 ) (E-Mail: feedback@postbulletin.com ) Video shows how schools approach homosexuality By Nikki Merfeld, The Post-Bulletin The discussion may have seemed elementary, but it drew on diverse theological perspectives, ranging from atheism to evangelism. The Sexual Minorities Advocacy Council Tuesday showed "It's Elementary," a video on children's views on people being gay or lesbian. About 40 people attended Tuesday's meeting, including several area pastors. [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/