Letter Encouraging School Officials to Allow Gay-Straight Alliances

Nov 01, 2000

Fall 2000

Dear School Principal, Administrators, and School Board Members:

Federal law requires that you treat gay-straight alliances the same as any other non-curricular club at your school. But that duty is not just a legal one. It makes sense from an educational and safety perspective, too.

The Equal Access Act mandates that if a public high school allows any student group whose purpose is not directly related to the curriculum to meet on school grounds during lunch or after school, it may not deny other student groups access to the school because of the content of the groups’ proposed discussions. Schools may not pick and choose among clubs based on their particular preferences for what students discuss. As a Federal District Court Judge wrote recently,

The Board Members may be uncomfortable about students discussing sexual orientation and how all students need to accept each other, whether gay or straight. . . . [But] Defendants cannot censor the students’ speech to avoid discussions on campus that cause them discomfort or represent an unpopular viewpoint. In order to comply with the Equal Access Act, Anthony Colin, Heather Zeitin, and the members of the Gay-Straight Alliance must be permitted access to the school campus in the same way that the District provides access to all clubs, including the Christian Club and the Red Cross/Key Club.

Anthony Colin, et al. v. Orange Unified School Dist., 83 F. Supp. 2d 1135, 1148 (Feb. 4, 2000, C.D. Cal.).

Judge David O. Carter went on in that case to emphasize that the gay-straight alliance could provide an important forum for students struggling with concerns about sexual orientation. Discussing the impact of discrimination on gay youth, Judge Carter wrote: "This injunction is not just about student pursuit of ideas and tolerance for diverse viewpoints. As any concerned parent would understand, this case may involve the protection of life itself." Id. at 1150.

Anti-gay harassment and violence are prevalent in schools and among teenagers. Some of the most common epithets that teens use today to disparage each other are "faggot," "dyke" and "queer." A disproportionate amount of the widespread physical violence against gay men and lesbians of all ages is committed by teenage boys. Gay/straight alliances help combat an atmosphere of verbal and physical harassment by creating a space where students can come together to relate their experiences or to discuss anti-gay attitudes that may exist in the school, or by simply providing an opportunity to debate different perspectives on a gay-related issue. Students talking to fellow students is a uniquely effective way of making young people aware of the harms caused by discrimination and violence.

The proper role for school officials is to remain neutral in this student-initiated debate, investigation and discussion, so long as it does not involve targeted harassment of an individual or group of students. Schools cannot deem the perspectives of some students "dangerous" and ban them to "protect" other young people. Silencing ideas that some consider dangerous is incompatible with the educational values of open inquiry and wide-ranging debate that are central to our free political system.

Many resources are available in your community to help you learn more about the school’s legal duties under the Equal Access Act. Your local ACLU affiliate can provide information about gay-straight alliances and direct you to other groups that are working to promote a non-discriminatory school for everyone. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Middleton Staff Attorney

(Please feel free to print and copy to use this letter as an advocacy tool in your own school.)