Nov 16, 2007Quickie Link: Gay-Straight Alliance Harassed By School Board
By vanrozenheim
(USA) - A lawsuit over the Gay-Straight Alliance of Okeechobee High School could be settled if students agreed to change the name of the club, according to lawyers for the Okeechobee County School Board. But a lawyer for the ACLU, which represents the club, said its members already have rejected the idea of changing the name. "The students have made clear that the name of the club is important to them because it describes their mission," said Robert Rosenwald, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. "From the beginning, the purpose of this club has been to prevent harassment and discrimination against Gay students." Attorneys for the school board have argued that the Gay-Straight Alliance is a "sex-based club" that violates a Florida statute requiring schools to teach abstinence "while teaching the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage."
