Subject: GLSTN SALUTES JAMIE NABOZNY AND LAMBDA
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 17:27:32 -0500

GLSTN NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 1996

  GLSTN
  122 West 26th St., Ste. 1100
  New York, NY 10001
  Tel: 212.727.0135
  Fax: 212.727.0254
  Web: http://www.glstn.org/
  Email: [email-masked]

For More Information Contact:                     
     Deidre Cuffee-Gray, Media Coordinator or
     Kevin Jennings, Executive Director: 212-727-0135

GLSTN SALUTES JAMIE NABOZNY AND LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE ON VICTORY IN 
FIRST-EVER FEDERAL CASE ON ANTI-GAY ABUSE IN SCHOOLS

HAILED AS "MOST IMPORTANT DECISION SINCE BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION"

(New York, NY) The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN) 
today congratulated Jamie Nabozny and Lambda Legal Defense, plaintiff and 
counsel, on their victory in Nabozny v. Podelsny et al, the first-ever 
federal case on anti-gay violence in schools.  A Wisconsin jury found 
Nabozny's Ashland, Wisconsin school system and its administrators guilty 
of failing to protect Nabozny from harassment on Tuesday, establishing a 
first-ever precedent on the rights of lesbian and gay students in K-12 
schools.  GLSTN is the only national organization specifically focused on 
winning equal educational rights for such students.

"Jamie's victory is an incredible moment in our history," said Kevin 
Jennings, GLSTN's Executive Director and a former high school history 
teacher.  "Basically, this is the most important court ruling on 
education since Brown v. the Board of Education in 1954, when racial 
segregation was outlawed," said Jennings.  "The courts have sent a 
similar message with this verdict.  They've said that students who are 
lesbian or gay are entitled to equal protection and equal opportunity 
from their schools."  Jennings added, "Now, students and teachers 
fighting for equity will have the courts on their side.  Things will 
quite literally never be the same."

Jennings lauded Nabozny and Lambda for their leadership.  "Jamie's 
courage, coupled with the legal brilliance of the Lambda team, have made 
history," said Jennings.  "These are folks who will be remembered forever 
for their contribution to bettering the lives of lesbian and gay young 
people."  Jennings added that GLSTN's network of over forty chapters will 
be hard at work in coming months to make sure the Nabozny ruling has 
teeth.  "In the end, these kinds of rulings will only have an impact if 
there is someone on the local level who is holding their schools 
accountable for their behavior, just as Jamie and Lambda held Ashland 
accountable," said Jennings.  "That's our plan for the next phase: to let 
school officials know that we're watching, and we'll be making sure they 
live up to their legal responsibilities to protect all students."

                                --30--

With over forty chapters, and a membership of over four thousand 
teachers, parents, and concerned citizens, GLSTN is the largest national 
organization working to insure that schools are places where all people 
are respected and valued, regardless of sexual orientation. 

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