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 New Twist In Okeechobee Gay Club Suit
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: March 27, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET
(Okeechobee, Florida) A lengthy lawsuit by the
ACLU against the Okeechobee school district over its refusal to allow a
Gay-Straight Alliance to meet on campus has taken a new twist a week after it
was learned the GSA had no students.
Two students this week reorganized the GSA after
all of its original members had either graduated or left the school.
Even though the organization was without members
this month the ACLU said it was continuing the lawsuit. The new students
are being added. The original president of the club, Yasmin Gonzalez, now a
college student, remains on the suit.
Last week a judge rescinded an earlier ruling
that required the school board to allow the GSA to meet on campus while the
lawsuit played out because the club had no members. (story)
The lawsuit will go to trial in June.
Now that the club has reformed the ACLU wants the
ruling reinstated. The school district says it will fight the reinstatement.
In 2006 Gonzalez and her girlfriend were told
they could not attend the school prom as a couple. The rejection was one of
several incidents targeting LGBT students at Okeechobee High School and led to
the formation of the GSA.
The school blocked the club from meeting on
campus and the students sought the help of the ACLU which filed the federal
suit.
The ACLU argues that the Equal Access Act
stipulates that when a school allows any non-curricular club to meet on campus,
it must allow all non-curricular clubs to meet on campus.
The school district argues that the Equal Access
Act can't be used in the case of a GSA and that Florida law requires schools to
teach abstinence, "while teaching the benefits of monogamous
marriage."
©365Gay.com 2008
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