ACLU: School censored student report on Harvey Milk
(San Francisco, California) The American Civil Liberties Union is threatening to sue a San Diego County school that refused to let a student present a report on slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk until her classmates got their parents’ permission to hear it.
David Blair-Loy, legal director of the ACLU of …
California School Bans Sixth I Presentation on Harvey Milk
California School Bans Sixth
Grader’s Presentation on Harvey MilkFaces Possible
ACLU Lawsuit For Violation Of State Education Code
RAMONA, CA – Wrongly citing a school policy on sex education, a
California
school illegally censored a sixth grader’s classroom presentation about Harvey
Milk earlier this month. According
to a demand letter sent by the American Civil Liberties Union to the
Ramona Unified School
District today, the school violated Natalie Jones’s
free speech rights when it refused to allow her to give the presentation in
class. Instead, the school
improperly required classmates to get parental permission to see the
presentation during a lunch recess.
“This whole thing is unbelievable –
first my daughter got called into the principal’s office as if she were in some
kind of trouble, and then they treated her presentation like it was something
icky,” said Bonnie Jones, mother of the Mt. Woodson Elementary School
student. “Harvey Milk was an
elected official in this state and an important person in history. To
say my daughter’s presentation is
‘sex education’ because Harvey Milk happened to be gay is completely
wrong.”
The assignment, part of an
independent research project class, was originally to prepare a written report
on any topic. Natalie Jones, who
was inspired to write about Harvey Milk after watching Sean Penn win an Academy
Award for portraying him, got a score of 49 out of a possible 50 points on the
written report. Students were then
told to make PowerPoint presentations about their reports, which they
would show
to other students in the class. The
day before Natalie was to give her 12-page presentation she was called into the
principal’s office and told she couldn’t do so.
When Bonnie Jones spoke with the
superintendent about the presentation, he said Natalie couldn’t give her
presentation because of a district board policy on “Family Life/Sex
Education.” A few days later, the
school sent letters to parents of students in the class, explaining that her
presentation would be held during a lunch recess on May 8, and that students
could only attend if they had parental permission.
“The principal and superintendent
grossly misinterpreted school policy.
They illegally censored student speech protected by the First Amendment
and the California Education Code,” said David
Blair-Loy, Legal Director of the ACLU of San Diego and
Imperial
Counties. “Writing or talking about a gay
historical figure who advocated for equal rights for LGBT Californians is in no
way the same thing as talking about sex, and school officials should
not pretend
otherwise.”
The Ramona Unified School
District policy on “Family Life/Sex
Education” reads in part:
“(P)arents/guardians shall be
notified in writing about any instruction in which human reproductive
organs and
their functions, processes, or sexually transmitted diseases are described,
illustrated, or discussed. In
addition, before any instruction on family life, human sexuality, AIDS or
sexually transmitted diseases is given, the parent/guardian shall be provided
with written notice explaining that the instruction will be
given…”
“Schools that act as if any mention
of the existence of gay people is something too controversial or ‘sensitive’ to
discuss are doing a disservice to their students,” said Elizabeth
Gill, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s
national LGBT Project. “This school
completely overstepped its bounds in trying to silence Natalie Jones
by shunting
her presentation off to a lunch recess time and misusing a school policy to
justify requiring parental permission to see it.”
In today’s letter, the ACLU is
demanding that the school:
·
Apologize in writing to Natalie
Jones and send a letter about that apology to all the parents who were sent the
principal’s letter about the presentation
·
Give
Natalie Jones an opportunity to give her presentation to all the other members
of her independent research project class
·
Clarify
in writing that the parental notification and permission portion of the “Family
Life/Sex Education” policy only applies to the curricula identified as “course
content” for “Family Life/Sex Education instruction”
The ACLU is giving the district
five days to respond or it may file a lawsuit on Bonnie and Natalie Jones’s
behalf.
Harvey Milk, one of Time Magazine’s “Time 100 Heroes and
Icons of the 20th Century” in 1999, has been the subject of several books, an
opera, a documentary film that won the 1984 Academy Award for Documentary
Feature, and a feature film released last year that won two Academy Awards for
Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor.
Milk’s birthday, the subject of a bill pending in the California legislature
that would make it a state holiday, is this Friday.
For additional information,
including copies of Natalie Jones’s presentation on Harvey Milk, the school’s
letter to parents, and the Ramona U.S.D. “Family Life/Sex Education” policy,
visit http://www.aclu.org/Milk.
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Calif. Senate advances Harvey Milk honor
(Sacramento) The California Senate has approved legislation designating a day each year to honor slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk.
The Democratic backed measure calls for Milk’s May 22 birthday to be used as a time to recognize the late San Francisco supervisor’s contributions. It would not be a formal holiday.
Milk …
California Assembly passes legislation that extends protections for the LGBT community
The bill, which will require prisons to include sexual orientation and gender identity when identifying prisoners who need protection, passed by an overwhelming margin of 65 to 9. 14 of the 29 Republican members voted for the legislation and 6 members abstained from the vote.
All of EQCA’s current legislation continues to pass their committees, including yesterday’s Assembly Judiciary Committee vote to make changing one’s gender identification more accessible for transgender persons and last week’s bipartisan vote in the Senate Education Committee to designate May 22 as Harvey Milk Day.
And this recent activity is evidence that the arc of equality always bends toward progress.
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Milk Day moves forward in Calif.
(Sacramento, California) A bill that would designate May 22 as Harvey Milk Day has been approved by a key committee in the California Senate. The measure now moves to the full Senate for a vote.
May 22 is Milk’s birth date. He would have been 80 this year.
It would then need …
Calif. panel OKs honors for gay leader Harvey Milk
With encouragement from an Oscar-winning screenwriter, a state Senate committee approved legislation Wednesday that would designate a day honoring slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk. The Senate Education Committee voted 7-2 to send the bill by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, to the full Senate. It would designate each May 22 — Milk’s birthday — as Harvey Milk Day. The “day of special significance” would recognize Milk’s life and contributions to the state but would not be an official holiday, meaning there would be no cost to state government.
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Oscar Winner Dustin Lance Black Testifies in Support of Harvey Milk Day, Which Promply Passes Key Committee
Sacramento – Dustin Lance Black, the Academy Award winning writer of the film Milk, testified before the California State Senate Education Committee shortly before it passed the Harvey Milk Day Bill, SB 572, in a 7-2 vote that included bipartisan support from Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) who voted for the bill.
“When I was 14 years old, a theatre director in the Bay Area told me the story of Harvey Milk,” said Black, an advocate for equal rights. “It was a story about an out gay man who stood up to prejudice and bigotry, lived openly as who he was, was elected to public office, and lit the fire of today’s national and global LGBT civil rights movement. Not surprisingly, his story gave me hope,” he said.
The bill, sponsored by Equality California (EQCA) and introduced by Senator Mark Leno (D – San Francisco) calls for a “day of special significance” honoring Milk and is designed to educate Californians about the former San Francisco City Supervisor, who became the nation’s first openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) person elected to political office in a major city.
“We may have lost Harvey Milk, but we have not lost his passion, his commitment, and his courage,” said Geoff Kors, EQCA Executive Director. “Harvey Milk’s endurance in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges is a source of pride and inspiration for every Californian.”
Milk’s groundbreaking service as an openly gay official helped bring LGBT people out of the closet and into civic life. During his time in office, he was responsible for both passing San Francisco’s first gay-rights ordinance and helping to defeat the controversial Briggs Initiative, which sought to ban gay and lesbian teachers from public schools. Milk, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, was assassinated in November 1978.
“Harvey Milk gave hope to an entire generation of gay and lesbian people whose basic humanity and freedom had been denied and dishonored,” said Senator Leno. “He literally gave his life so that I and other LGBT elected officials could serve in public office. Thanks to Dustin Lance Black and the creators and stars of the movie “Milk,” Harvey’s incredible story continues to be told around the world. It is only fitting that we continue our work to preserve his legacy for generations to come,” he said.
The legislation was originally introduced last year by Sen. Leno, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the measure at the time, claiming Harvey Milk was not well known enough beyond San Francisco. Since that time, however, Harvey Milk has become a focal point of national conversation following the successful release of Milk, the critically acclaimed film depicting the life of the slain civil rights leader for which Black and actor Sean Penn received Academy Awards.
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Harvey Milk Day Legislation Under Attack!
The same group, motivated by fear and hate, who brought us Prop 8 is at it again—with a new target.
This time they are turning up the heat, urging their members to contact the governor asking him to veto EQCA’s legislation–authored by Senator Mark Leno–to honor my uncle, Harvey Milk.
The governor needs to see a groundswell of support for legislation to honor one of our movement’s greatest heroes, Harvey Milk. Please sign the petition today!
This morning, EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors will be joined by Senator Leno and Dustin Lance Black, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of the movie “Milk,” to give testimony before the Senate Education Committee urging the passage of this legislation that pays tribute to the sacrifices Harvey made to advance equality.
Last year, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill saying that my uncle was a figure of only local significance. Since then, millions have seen how important my uncle was to the LGBT rights movement – and how he inspired so many to fight for what is right.
Please sign the petition to Governor Schwarzenegger and urge him to sign the Harvey Milk Day bill. You can even add in a special message about what Harvey Milk means to you.
The deadline is fast approaching. All the petitions will be delivered to the Governor on May 22, my uncle’s birthday.
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California is One Step Closer To Harvey Milk Day
A state Senate committee has approved legislation designating a day honoring slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk. The bill would require the governor to designate each May 22 — Milk’s birthday — as Harvey Milk Day.
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See California is One Step Closer To Harvey Milk Day
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Special report: Moscone and Milk Assassinations
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Academy Award Winning Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black to Testify in Favor of Harvey Milk Day Bill
Sacramento–Dustin Lance Black, Academy Award winning screenwriter of the film Milk will testify before the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday in support of legislation establishing Harvey Milk Day in California. Senate Bill 572, sponsored by Equality California and authored by Sen. Mark Leno (D- San Francisco), creates a day of special significance on Milk’s birthday, May 22.
Harvey Milk, a former San Francisco City supervisor, was the first openly gay elected official of any large city in the United States, and only the third openly gay elected official in the nation. He and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in San Francisco on November 27, 1978. His life was the subject of last year’s critically-acclaimed film Milk, for which both Black and actor Sean Penn received the Academy Award.
Equality California (EQCA) is the largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender-rights advocacy organization in California. In the past decade, EQCA has strategically moved California from a state with extremely limited legal protections for LGBT individuals to a state with some of the most comprehensive civil-rights protections in the nation. EQCA has passed over 50 pieces of legislation and continues to advance equality through legislative advocacy, public education and community empowerment. www.eqca.org
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