Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 16:14:58 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 4/27/2000 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. UT: More on lawsuit against banned gay school club 2. IL: News article on gay teachers =========================================================== From: JGrissom@lambdalegal.org Reply-To: lambdalegal@lambdalegal.org Subject: Students Ask Judge to Open School Doors to Club with Gay Perspective Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 15:52:13 -0400 =========================================== LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND www.lambdalegal.org AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION www.aclu.org NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS www.nclrights.org News Release ============================================ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, April 19, 2000 CONTACTS: Peg Byron, Lambda, 212-809-8585 x 230, 888-987-1984 pager Jon Davidson, Lambda, 323-937-2728 x 228 Carole Gnade, ACLU, 801-521-9862 Shannon Minter, NCLR, 415-392-6257 ============================================ Students Ask Judge to Open School Doors to Club with Gay Perspective Argument: Thursday, April 20, 10:00 a.m. (SALT LAKE CITY, April 19, 2000) Some Salt Lake City students are asking a federal judge to order the assistant superintendent overseeing their high school to open the school door to their club to discuss classroom subjects such as American History, Government and Sociology from the perspective of gay people. On Thursday, April 20, attorneys for the students will argue the motion before United States District Judge Tena Campbell. The students, their mothers and attorneys will speak with reporters following the hearing. "In school, we are taught that the Constitution gives everybody a right to speak freely. But at our school, it seems the First Amendment only applies if you promise not to say anything about gay people," said 11th grader Maggie Hinckley who along with classmate Jessi Cohen is a plaintiff to the lawsuit. Said Cohen, "Our PRISM club should be given a fair chance to meet. It is important that all the students at East High have a chance to appreciate the role lesbians and gay men play in democracy and civil rights." PRISM stands for "People Respecting Important Social Movements." The students' motion argues that, in keeping their PRISM club from meeting, school officials are suppressing students' first amendment rights of speech and expressive association. In order to prevent this irreparable harm, the students' attorneys believe the PRISM club should be allowed to meet while the courts determine whether the club's rejection was in violation of the law. Lead counsel the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, along with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights represent the students and their club. The lawsuit filed last week against Assistant Superintendent Cynthia Seidel, alleges that students' first amendment rights were first suppressed last year when officials rejected the application of the Rainbow Club, a curricular club that similarly intended to look at school subjects with an eye toward the perspectives of lesbians and gay men. The application for the PRISM club was denied this March. In 1996, the same school district took the drastic measure of banning all non-curricular student groups in order to thwart students' attempts to form a gay-straight alliance. The legal challenge on behalf of that GSA, East High Gay/Straight Alliance v. Board of Ed., continues on appeal. WHAT: East High School PRISM club members seek preliminary injunction ordering Salt Lake City School District officials to allow their club to meet WHO: ACLU of Utah Legal Director Stephen Clark, Cooperating Attorney Richard Van Wagoner, students and parents will speak with reporters following hearing WHERE: U.S. District Court for Salt Lake City, Room 235, 350 South Main Street, Salt Lake City, UT WHEN: Thursday, April 20, 10:00 a.m. MDT (East High School Prism Club v. Seidel, No. 2:00-CV-0311K) --30-- Link directly to Lambda's news release: http://www.lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/pages/documents/record?record=625 ======================================= Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund www.lambdalegal.org National Headquarters 120 Wall Street, Suite 1500 New York, NY 10005-3904 212-809-8585 phone 212-809-0055 fax lambda@lambdalegal.org ============================================================================ From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 15:46:40 EDT Subject: Evanston, IL: GAY EDUCATORS DISCOVERING STRENGTH IN HONESTY Msg fwd by: The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020 Email to: saratogany@aol.com ============================================================================== == Chicago Tribune http://chicagotribune.com/ GAY EDUCATORS DISCOVERING STRENGTH IN HONESTY EQUAL WORKING RIGHTS DON'T ALWAYS EXTEND TO THE CLASSROOM, A RECENT SURVEY FOUND. By Tracy Dell'Angela Tribune Staff Writer April 19, 2000 Kindergarten teacher Randy Heite circulates around his Evanston classroom offering a few math tips to the girl weighing Spike the lizard, pointing out the disintegrating calcium on a bone soaked in vinegar, doling out a worm to the boy with a hungry garter snake wrapped around his arm. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ===================================================================== This message has been distributed as a free informational service for the expressed interest of non-profit research and educational purposes only. "The Actual or Perceived GLBT Student Protection Project" A project of: Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS John Myers Director of Operations and Programs PO Box 2345 Malta, NY 12020 (518) 587-0176 Email: saratogany@aol.com ================================================================================= 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/