Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 17:08:15 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 5/5/2000 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. MA: State board adopts changes to bias policy 2. UT: Judge grants injunction; allows gay club to meet ============================================================================ 1. MA: State board adopts changes to bias policy From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 13:07:00 EDT Subject: MA: State education board rules out anti-gay bias over complaints Message forward by: The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS Email to: saratogany@aol.com ===================================================================== From: torourke@glsen.org (Tony O'Rourke) State education board rules out anti-gay bias over complaints By Jeff Donn, Associated Press, 4/26/2000 00:01 PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) Massachusetts school policy makers say they are protecting gays, but some Christian activists say they are promoting homosexuality. The state Board of Education unanimously adopted rules Tuesday to promote equal rights for pupils regardless of sexual orientation. ''To your discredit and shame, you're institutionalizing degeneracy,'' yelled out Timothy A. Chichester, who came to the Pittsfield meeting from nearby Canaan, N.Y. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] The new rules take effect on May 25. ===================================================================== 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 (To join or unsubscribe the CSS-NYS e-mail list, send request to address above.) Boston Globe, April 26, 2000 State approves rules targeting hostile atmosphere for gays By David Able, Sandy Coleman, Doreen Iudica Vigue, Anand Vaishnav, and Laura Gaccione PITTSFIELD ­ After several emotional comments from religious conservatives and gay rights supporters, the state Board of Education voted unanimously yesterday to require school districts to investigate incidents of discrimination and harassment against gay students. ''This is about protection,'' said Commissioner of Education David P. Driscoll. ''There is discrimination in various forms and harassment in various forms, and I frankly don't see any lessening of this. That's what these regulations are all about. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ''To your discredit and shame, you have institutionalized degeneracy in Massachusetts,'' said Timothy A. Chinchester of nearby Canaan, N.Y., after the vote. . . . [continues with other topics] Associated Press, April 26, 2000 Gay and lesbian advocates upset by anti-discrimination policy By Heidi B. Perlman BOSTON (AP) ­ A state anti-discrimination policy passed to protect gays in schools is being criticized by the group it initially set out to help. Some gay and lesbian advocates fear last-minute changes to the regulation made by the state Board of Education on Tuesday could spark an increase of anti-gay sentiment in the classroom. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] ============================================================================= 2. UT: Judge grants injunction; allows gay club to meet Associated Press, April 26, 2000 Judge: Gay Issues Club Ban Unfair By HANNAH WOLFSON SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ­ A student club that focuses on gay and lesbian issues will be allowed to meet while its case against the school district is considered, a federal judge decided Wednesday. U.S. Judge Tena Campbell granted PRISM ­ or People Respecting Important Social Movements ­ a preliminary injunction, ruling that the school district unfairly denied the East High School students permission to meet. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] =========================================== LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND www.lambdalegal.org NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS www.nclrights.org AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF UTAH www.acluutah.org News Release ============================================ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 27, 2000 CONTACT: Peg Byron, Lambda, 212-809-8585 x230, 1-888-987-1984 pager Jon W. Davidson, Lambda, 323-937-2728 x 228 Carole Gnade, ACLU, 801-521-9862 Shannon Minter, NCLR, 415-392-6257 ============================================ Judge Orders School to Make Room for Student Club with Gay Perspective Students win injunction against school official who blocked club's application (SALT LAKE CITY, April 27, 2000) - Over the objections of school administrators, a federal judge has ordered that a student club intending to look at classroom subjects from the perspective of lesbians and gay men should be allowed to meet at their Salt Lake City high school. "I am really excited that the perspectives of gay people finally will be discussed at our high school," said 11th-grader Maggie Hinckley who along with classmate Jessi Cohen is suing the school official that denied their club's application in March. "All we have ever asked for is to be treated like all the other clubs. It feels great finally to be treated fairly," said Cohen. Said Hinckley, "Students at East High will be able to better appreciate the role lesbians and gay men play in classroom subjects like American History, Government and Sociology. We will at last have a chance to show everyone that clubs like PRISM are important to enhancing what we learn at school." PRISM stands for "People Respecting Important Social Movements." In granting the students' motion for a preliminary injunction late Wednesday, Judge Tena Campbell of the United States District Court in Salt Lake City found that the school district's assistant superintendent did not adhere to the district's own policies in determining that the PRISM club was not sufficiently "curriculum-related." By using a unique standard to deny the club's application, the District failed to "respect the lawful boundaries it has itself set," wrote Judge Campbell. The judge's ruling follows an April 19th hearing at which Stephen Clark, ACLU of Utah legal director, argued that, in barring the PRISM club from meeting, school officials were suppressing students' first amendment right of speech and expressive association. Lead counsel the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, represent the students and their club. The students filed their lawsuit filed against Assistant Superintendent Cynthia Seidel on April 11, and stated that their first amendment rights initially were suppressed last year when officials rejected the application of the Rainbow Club, also a curricular club that intended to look at school subjects from gay perspectives. Added Cohen, "We are glad the judge affirmed the important lessons about free speech that students are supposed to learn in high school. The First Amendment gives us the right to come together and discuss things even when others might not like what we have to say." The order ensures that the PRISM club will meet while the courts determine whether the club's denial was indeed a violation of the students' constitutional rights. The students intend to hold their first meeting soon, although no official date has been set. In 1996, this 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 club. The legal challenge on behalf of that GSA, East High Gay/Straight Alliance v. Board of Ed., continues on appeal. (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=630 ======================================= 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 lambdalegal@lambdalegal.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/