ACLU Sues To Stop Tennessee Schools From Censoring Gay Educational Web Sites; Filtering Software Allows Anti-Gay Sites

NASHVILLE, TN – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Tennessee sued two Tennessee school districts in federal court today, charging the schools are unconstitutionally blocking students from accessing online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, Knox County Schools and as many as 105 other school districts in Tennessee use Internet filtering software to block Web sites containing pro-LGBT speech, but not Web sites touting so-called “reparative therapy” and “ex-gay” ministries. The “LGBT” filter is not used to block sites containing pornography, which are filtered under a different category, but it does block the sites of many well-known LGBT organizations including Parents, Families, And Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

“Allowing access to Web sites that present one side of an issue while blocking sites that present the other side is illegal viewpoint discrimination,” said Catherine Crump, a staff attorney with the ACLU First Amendment Working Group and lead attorney on the case. “This discriminatory censorship does nothing to make students safe from material that may actually be harmful, but only hurts them by making it impossible to access important educational material.”

The school districts block the Internet filtering category designated “LGBT,” which includes sites that “provide information regarding, support, promote, or cater to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” They do not, however, block sites that condemn homosexuality or promote “reparative therapy,” a practice purporting to “cure” LGBT people that is denounced as dangerous and harmful to young people by such groups as the American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association.

The ACLU filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and Knox County Schools on behalf of two high school students in Nashville, one student in Knoxville and a high school librarian in Knoxville who is also the advisor of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA).

“Students need to be able to access information about their legal rights or what to do if they’re being harassed at school,” said Keila Franks, a 17-year-old student at Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville and a plaintiff on the case. “It’s completely unfair for schools to keep students in the dark about such important issues and treat Web sites that just offer information like they’re something dirty.”

The lawsuit charges that blocking LGBT sites violates students’ First Amendment rights by only allowing access to sites that present an anti-gay point of view on the rights of LGBT persons on issues such as anti-gay harassment, marriage, employment discrimination and the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy while blocking access to sites that support LGBT rights. Further, the filtering hinders the ability of GSAs and their members to facilitate club activities and keeps students from accessing important information about scholarships for LGBT students or doing research for school-related assignments.

The ACLU first learned about the discriminatory filtering from Andrew Emitt, a Knoxville high school student who discovered the problem while trying to search for LGBT scholarships. Internet filtering software is mandated in public schools by Tennessee law, which requires schools to implement software to restrict information that is obscene or harmful to minors. However, the “LGBT” filter category does not include material which is sexually gratuitous and already included in the “pornography” filtering category.

“While schools may have an interest in using filters to block material that could be harmful to minors, blocking access to information about LGBT issues while allowing anti-gay information is unlawful and potentially dangerous,” said Tricia Herzfeld, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Tennessee. “There is no place for this kind of unconstitutional censorship in our public schools.”

In addition to Crump and Herzfeld, attorneys on the case are Chris Hansen of the ACLU First Amendment Working Group and Christine Sun of the ACLU LGBT Project.

The plaintiffs are Nashville students Keila Franks and Emily Logan, Knoxville student Bryanna Shelton, and Karyn Storts-Brinks, a Knoxville high school librarian and faculty sponsor for her school’s GSA.

More information about the case, including the ACLU’s complaint and a video featuring one of the student plaintiffs, is available online at: www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/39346res20090413.html.

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High School Student Takes On Anti-Gay Harassment — And Wins

ACLU Reaches Agreement With School District To Combat Bias After Lesbian Student Is Harassed By Teachers

VALLEJO, CA – The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that it has reached a settlement agreement with the Vallejo City Unified School District on behalf of a high school student who faced anti-gay harassment and discrimination from teachers and school staff and was required to participate in a school-sponsored “counseling” group designed to discourage students from being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The settlement is designed to combat harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity at all the district’s schools, and includes district-wide anti-harassment training for students and staff.

“All I ever wanted was to be able to go to school and just be myself. But I couldn’t do that when the people I was supposed to be learning from were judging me and telling me something was wrong with me. How was I supposed to learn when I was constantly scared?” said Hamilton, a high school student who came out as a lesbian when she was 13.

For Rochelle Hamilton, starting high school was the beginning of relentless verbal harassment and discrimination from teachers and staff based on her sexual orientation and gender expression. Hamilton began attending Vallejo’s Jesse Bethel High School as a sophomore in the fall of 2007. The verbal attacks started almost immediately, and continued for months.

Hamilton became severely depressed and her grades plummeted. Worried for her daughter, Hamilton’s mother, Cheri Hamilton, repeatedly wrote letters, made phone calls, and met in person with school and district officials for several months. After three months of outreach to the school and the district, Cheri Hamilton contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California for help. The ACLU intervened to resolve the matter with the school district.

Hamilton reports that while some of the harassment she suffered came from other students, most of the time it came from school teachers and staff. Specific incidents included:

· A teacher approached Hamilton while she was hugging her girlfriend and said, “This is ungodly, and you’re going to hell. This is a sin.”

· Another teacher said, “What’s wrong with you? What are you, a man or a woman?”

· Other school staff made repeated harassing comments to Hamilton in front of her classmates, including saying, “it’s not right to be this way.”

· Hamilton was also on several occasions denied access to the girls’ locker room.

“California school districts are required by state law to protect students from harassment and discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Elizabeth Gill, an ACLU-NC staff attorney who worked with the district on the settlement. “If a school district ignores anti-gay bias in schools, it is plainly violating both state and federal law. These laws are designed, in part, to ensure that all students are able to learn and thrive free from bias. When it’s left unchecked, harassment can take a serious toll on students.”

One of the most egregious incidents in this case involved a school counselor who required Hamilton to attend a special weekly support group for gay students. The real purpose of the group was quickly revealed, however, when the counselor berated students for “choosing” to be gay and tried to convince them to change their sexual orientation or gender expression. The counselor told the students that it is “hard to get a job if you’re gay.” When Hamilton’s mother went to school officials about the “counseling” group, the counselor confronted Hamilton the next week, telling her, “You’re going to get this treatment your whole life. What are you going to do, stand up every time?”

“The district-wide anti-harassment training will make Vallejo schools a more welcoming place to learn for all students,” said Jory Steele, ACLU-NC’s managing attorney. “District administrators made the right move in taking important steps to protect its students from bias.”

Hamilton transferred out of Jesse Bethel High School midway through her sophomore year to escape the daily harassment. She is now completing her junior year at another high school in the district.

Pursuant to the five-year agreement reached with the ACLU, the district will adopt a clear policy explicitly prohibiting discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, as required by California law; develop a specific procedure for harassment and discrimination complaints; provide mandatory training for all teachers and other staff who interact with students in how to identify anti-gay harassment and discrimination, why it’s harmful, and how to prevent it; and provide mandatory anti-harassment training to all students in the district, as well as taking other steps to make the district a more welcoming environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

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‘Milk’ Oscar Winner: My Emotional Voyage Home to High School

Editor’s Note: On May 9th, Academy Award-winning “Milk” screenwriter Dustin Lance Black returned to his high school in North Salinas, CA, as part of Live Out Loud’s Homecoming Project. Aiming to inspire a new generation of role models, the program brings lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) leaders back to their high schools to share their personal stories with today’s students. In this exclusive submission to the MTV Movies Blog, Black tells us about his first time returning to the school since that powerful Oscar night speech, when he had spoken of his struggles as a gay teenager.
by Dustin Lance Black
My palms got a little sweaty as I turned off East Alvin Drive in Salinas, and onto Kip Drive.
For the first time in 17 years, I saw the entrance to my old high school, the same one where I was once called “gay” by my peers. And it wasn’t said as a compliment — it was said with hate, anger, and on one occasion I was honestly afraid of getting my butt whipped.
So, I did what so many kids still do — I tried to vanish. I didn’t get great grades, I didn’t excel, I shrunk and hid, and I did my best to disappear at lunch. High school is tough for almost everyone, but for LGBT kids, it can be truly frightening. And as much as I know that I’m all grown up now, and that I can stand up for myself, I still got a little knot in my stomach as we pulled up to the front doors of North Salinas High and the camera crews closed in.
Before my speech, I hung out in a back room waiting to be announced, but I could hear the crowd inside the gym. It sounded big. Then I heard them play my Oscar speech, and if you haven’t heard it yet, it’s pretty clear that I’m a gay guy fighting for the LGBT kids out there. The room got very quiet; I got a little nervous. But when the Principal called my name and I came through those doors, I was greeted by a standing ovation from the over 1000 students who chose to show up. That was my first clue that something had changed at North High. See ‘Milk’ Oscar Winner: My Emotional Voyage Home to High School
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VISTA: Proposal for ‘Carrie Prejean Day’ fails

VISTA —- A proposal to make June 1 “Carrie Prejean Day” in the Vista Unified School District failed late Thursday night, after the school board member who suggested it couldn’t get his colleagues to sign on.Prejean, a 2005 graduate of Vista High School, made headlines last month when she competed as Miss California in the nationally televised Miss USA Pageant and answered a question about same-sex marriage posed by a pageant judge.Prejean’s answer —- that marriage should be between a man and a woman —- may have cost her the crown and created a firestorm of controversy.Since the pageant, she has appeared on several news shows defending her beliefs. Meanwhile, semi-nude photos of her surfaced on the Internet.On Thursday night, hundreds of people packed the multipurpose room at Foothill Oak Elementary School for the Vista school board meeting, many waiting late into the evening to speak for or against the idea.”Carrie Prejean is not a spokesperson for traditional marriage,” said one of the first speakers on the issue, Jill Parvin, a parent in the district who has frequently sided with Gibson. “She is a former student with the courage to speak her mind.”An opposing view was presented by Evelyn Thomas, director of education and youth services for the North County Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and transgender Coalition in Oceanside.”It is wrong to teach bigotry and discrimination,” Thomas told the board. “The reality is, students —- your students —- are part of nontraditional families.” See VISTA: Proposal for ‘Carrie Prejean Day’ fails
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Pioneering gay student athlete says schools must protect all students

Ten years after drawing national attention for coming out while serving as co-captain of his high school football team, Middleton native Corey Johnson told attendees at the annual conference of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network of Boston (GLSEN Boston), that his own visit to the conference a decade ago was instrumental in his decision to come out publicly. Speaking to a crowd of youth, teachers and administrators gathered at Jamaica Plain’s English High School on May 1 Johnson recalled traveling to that year’s conference on the Tufts University campus on a bus with his school’s gay/straight alliance (GSA), but the Masconomet Regional High School student sat as far away from the GSA kids as possible for fear that people would think he was gay. Yet arriving at the conference completely changed his perspective. See Pioneering gay student athlete says schools must protect all students
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‘We still teach hate,’ says mother of murdered gay man

GARY — Judy Shepard doesn’t forgive the men who killed her son, but she doesn’t blame them, either.
Shepard, at Indiana University Northwest on Wednesday night to talk about the torture and murder of her son, Matthew Shepard, said she gets “the forgiveness question” a lot when she talks to groups.
Mostly, she’s just confused by the thought, but what she knows for sure is that the two men who brutally murdered Matthew — Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, who are serving life sentences — weren’t taught any better.
Thus, Shepard has made it her mission in the almost 10 years since his death to teach everyone possible that hate is a learned behavior that needs to be stopped.
“We still teach hate; it has to be a conscious decision to not go there,” said Shepard, invited to speak by IUN’s Center for Regional Excellence and Merrillville High School’s Socially Together and Naturally Diverse organization.
At times comical, Shepard described her home state of Wyoming as “not a hateful place at all,” but it is 96 percent white, with the rest of the 500,000-resident population either Native American or Latino. Even after the murder, Wyoming still hasn’t passed hate-crime legislation that includes lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual specifics, though Laramie, where the murder took place, has an ordinance against it.
Indiana also doesn’t have hate-crime legislation specific to the LGBT community, either, and she pointed out it likely won’t happen until something is passed at the federal level. Nevertheless, she remains hopeful. See ‘We still teach hate,’ says mother of murdered gay man
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Gay Students at a Kentucky High School Report Not Being Able to Use the Restroom because of their Sexual Orientation

Kentucky Equality Federation received reports that a Franklin County High School official allegedly sent an email to teachers instructing them not to allow homosexuals to leave class to use the restroom.

Frankfort, KY — Kentucky Equality Federation received reports that a Franklin County High School official allegedly sent an email to teachers instructing them not to allow homosexuals to leave class to use the restroom.

The email was allegedly sent after two female classmates were caught kissing in the public restroom.

In response, 15 students protested outside the school yesterday.

“My daughter was involved in a protest at Franklin County High School yesterday for their right to use the restroom,” stated Michelle Sexton.

“I have been in contact with one of the parents of the children involved in the protest and we support their constitutional right to assemble peacefully,” stated Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer. “We call on the media to investigate this issue further and shed light on the discrimination gays and lesbians face throughout the Commonwealth. Kentucky Equality Federation will also be contacting the other parents of the children involved in today’s protest.”

Though Superintendent Harrie Buecker stated steps are being taken to address the students’ concerns, Kentucky Equality Federation is concerned they will not be addressed properly. Though not directly connected, Kentucky Equality Federation has received similar complaints in Casey, Pulaski, and Powell counties about unfair treatment of gay and lesbian students and teachers.

“I’d like to know what level this mentality, that gay and lesbian students should not be treated equally is coming from. An incident in one county could be called an isolated incident, but we now have similar reports in three other Kentucky Counties,” stated Kentucky Equality Federation Managing Director Laura Reed.

Kentucky Equality Federation will continue its own investigation and assist parents or students in filing any necessary complaints with Kentucky officials.

Palmer added that assembling together in a peaceful manner is the most basic right granted by the Kentucky Constitution, and that Kentucky Equality Federation had contacted the Office of Helen W. Mountjoy, Kentucky’s Secretary of Education for assistance in resolving the issues.

Kentucky Equality Federation offers an online complaint system for people around the Commonwealth to report discrimination or harassment. The online complaint system can be located at www.kyLGBT.org, or www.kyequality.org.

—

Kentucky Equality Federation is Kentucky’s largest statewide, grassroots LGBTI civil rights organization.

Kentucky Equality Federation is the sponsor of Marriage Equality Kentucky. For additional information, visit http://www.marriageequalityky.org/.

Kentucky Equality Federation is a member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (“ILGA”). Composed of over 600 member organizations around the world, ILGA is to this day the only international non-profit and non-governmental community-based federation dedicated to achieving equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people at the United Nations.

Kentucky Equality Federation is a member of Marriage Equality USA.

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Students protest anti-gay activists

NEW BRITAIN — Students from New Britain High School started their day earlier than usual Wednesday as they engaged in an unplanned class on the constitution, equal rights and free speech.

About 40 students began gathering about a block south of Mill Street and South Main Street at 6:50 a.m. as a small contingent of out-of-town anti-gay protesters arrived.

Joseph Ellzey, a 16-year-old sophomore, said he was shocked to see the group so near the school.

“What they’re doing is an insult and disgusting,” he said, as schoolmates cheered him on. “People have the right to say things, but this is just hate.”

The anti-gay group, members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., is well-known for its virulent attacks on homosexuals, the U.S. Supreme Court and, with the recent codification in the Legislature on a gay marriage law, the state of Connecticut.
See Students protest anti-gay activists

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Court lets private schools expel lesbians

The state Supreme Court left intact Wednesday a lower-court ruling that said a private religious high school wasn’t covered by California civil rights law and could expel students it believed were lesbians.

Over Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar’s dissent, the court denied review of an appeal by parents of two girls who were expelled from a high school in Riverside County. A lawyer for the parents said the ruling, which is binding on trial courts statewide, would allow private schools to discriminate against students on any basis they chose, including sex and religion.

The girls were juniors at California Lutheran High School in the town of Wildomar when the principal, Gregory Bork, called them to his office in September 2005 and questioned them separately about their sexual orientation, after another student reported postings on their MySpace pages.

Bork suspended the girls based on their answers, and the school’s directors expelled them a month later. The girls, who later graduated from another high school, have not been identified and have not discussed their sexual orientation, said their parents’ attorney, Kirk Hanson.

The parents sued under the Unruh Act, a 1959 state law that forbids discrimination by businesses. It was amended in 2005 to include bias based on sexual orientation and someone else’s perception of sexual orientation. State education law also prohibits anti-gay bias, but that applies only to public schools.

In January, the Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Bernardino said the school is not a business but instead a social organization entitled to follow its principles.

Although California courts have defined such organizations as a Boys Club and the Rotary Club as businesses covered by the Unruh Act, the appeals court cited a 1998 state Supreme Court ruling that allowed the Boy Scouts to exclude gays and atheists. Like the Boy Scouts, the appellate panel said, a private religious school exists mainly to instill its values in young people.

See Court lets private schools expel lesbians

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‘Milk’ screenwriter calls gay rights the ‘civil rights fight of your generation’

COLUMBIA — Dustin Lance Black was in high school in 1988 when he heard about Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in California. Black said that at that point, he had never heard of an out gay man before, joking his first thought was that Milk must have been bad at hiding it.

Black, who won an Academy Award this year for best original screenplay for “Milk,” spoke at MU on Sunday evening. The movie, starring Sean Penn, recounts Milk’s election in 1977 to the board of supervisors in San Francisco and his murder by fellow supervisor Dan White. Penn won an Oscar for best actor.

Black’s speech at MU included some serious and not-so-serious topics that seemed to engage the mostly student crowd. Full and equal federal rights should be the goal, he told them, and not the current “bit-by-bit civil rights.”

“This is the civil rights fight of your generation,” Black said. “This is the civil rights fight of the 21st century.” See a’Milk’ screenwriter calls gay rights the ‘civil rights fight of …

Columbia Missourian