School could possibly ban

[Racket_Man]

ALL middle and high school clubs and extra-cirrular groups because a group of students wanted to start a Gay-Straight Allance club. The ACLU pointed out the Federal Equal Access Act (Wiki article) prohibits this from happening UNLESS the school disctrict bans and denies meeting space on campus (from the Equal Access Act) ALL non-cirriculum related groups or clubs.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...ual-access-act

[Andara Bledin]

This is a particularly salient point about how mindlessly bigoted these idiots are:

Howard said he was worried about the clubs that would be lost under stricter rules. "I am very concerned that one club would push out the remainder of the clubs that are doing good things," he said.

I want to know how the club is pushing out other clubs when it's the school board's determination to deny the club entirely that is the root of the problem. I also want to know why an anti-bullying alliance club is automatically excluded from the
"clubs that are doing good things."

^-.-^

[Greenday]

ALL middle and high school clubs and extra-cirrular groups because a group of students wanted to start a Gay-Straight Allance club.

Just middle schools. Secondary school in America is high school.

The stupidity never seems to end among bigots. I feel like when my generation takes over, we'll finally get over this hump and end the legal discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation. It's just a long wait.

[Seifer]

Fischer said the district should focus on education and that "social engineering" is not the job of the School Board. "It is not our job to socially mentor students, but to educate them," she said.

Does football count as "educating" the students? Or would that be a club/activity that would be on the chopping block? I think if schools were forced to either accept a gay-straight alliance club or lose their precious school sporting programs, they'd have no choice but to accept the club. "GIVE UP MAH FOOTBALL?! NEVUUUURRRR!"

[Pixilated]

*snip* I feel like when my generation takes over, we'll finally get over this hump and end the legal discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation. It's just a long wait.

Greenday, your generation will have a better shot at it, but don't think for a moment that everybody in your generation has an enlightened attitude towards sexual orientation. Bigotry is not confined to any one age group.

[Greenday]

Greenday, your generation will have a better shot at it, but don't think for a moment that everybody in your generation has an enlightened attitude towards sexual orientation. Bigotry is not confined to any one age group.

No, I know people who are pretty homophobic my age. It's just that the past few generations have gotten over various discrimination humps. My grandparents had the women's right hump. Somewhere between my parent's and my grandparent's generations it was the black right's movement. My generation it's gay rights. I just don't know who will be the next oppressed people to pop up. I doubt this would actually be the end of legal discrimination as we know it.

[Rageaholic]

This is beyond ridiculous now. We're going so far out of the way to avoid offending the goodie two shoe family values crowd that we're not only actively discriminating against minorities, we're stomping on other people's privileges to spite them.

And I bet the people who are opposed to the gay straight allience think they are the ones being persecuted against.

[Mr. Anubite]

I first read about this several days ago, and it made me have this unpleasant internal debate.

If we assume that the school is not bluffing, and that every club is going to get shut down if the LGBT and ally students don't drop their request for the GSA, should they go ahead and drop the request? I really can't answer that question.

Before people beat up on me, I'm 19, gay, progressive, and Hindu. I'm not one of those people

[Aethian]

Before people beat up on me, I'm 19, gay, progressive, and Hindu. I'm not one of those people

No your one of those other people.

But to your post I don't think anyone will back down and we'll start to see small court cases start to turn into big ones.

[siead_lietrathua]

i have a feeling that this situation is probably going to be stalemated for a while.
but in the meantime.... ya know what could be fun? if the school keeps refusing to let them be a legit school club, then just make it a social club and hold it off school grounds. ask a cheap coffee shop if they can meet there, or use someone's home, or maybe see if a room can be arranged for use from the local library, etc.
they may be able to ban groups in school, but off school and on their own time they have no control as to with whom/ where the kids hang or what they discuss.

[Bronzebow]

they may be able to ban groups in school, but off school and on their own time they have no control as to with whom/ where the kids hang or what they discuss.

My old high school strongly disagreed with this. Students were apparently students for life, and outside groupings of students apparently fell into the principal's domain.

Sigh, small backwards towns...

My cousin actually did fight to get a Gay-Straight Alliance started at my high school. He was turned down, until the ACLU threatened a lawsuit. There's a GSA there now.