Gay-Straight Alliance
Recently in the Omaha area a story made the news that brings light to something that is happening nationally. At Bellevue East High School the Gay-Straight Alliance wants to be an officially school sponsored club. However Bellevue Public School officials say that the group can be called the Gay-Straight Alliance, but if they want it to be sponsored by the school it must be called the Diversity Club. Last November the Nebraska ACLU stepped in because the school wouldn't provide a meeting place or allow them to announce upcoming meetings. They threatened to sue the school and shortly afterward the GSA was able to meet at school, but they could not call themselves by their true name.
The ACLU wants clearer guidelines for which clubs are sponsored and which aren't. Sponsored clubs can get funding for events and speakers, and can be featured in the yearbook, but as of right now the different non-sponsored clubs are being treated differently. The Equal Access Act of 1984 says, "deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical or other content of the speech at such meetings." As long as the group is voluntary and started by students, if the school wants to limit meeting times and locations they must limit all of the different groups equally. So Gay-Straight Alliances should be able to meet at school under their real name even if it isn't a school sponsored club.
Some people don't want the GSA to be a school sponsored groups because they say it promotes sex within same sex relationships, and since they are abstinence only, it can't be allowed. The GSA is NOT promoting sex. Just because people are gay it doesn't mean all they talk about is sex, that is just another stereotypical remark made by un-tolerant people. Here are the three mission statements of the Gay-Straight Alliance:
- Create safe environments in schools for students to support each other and learn about homophobia and other oppressions
- Educate the school community about homophobia, gender identity, and sexual orientation issues
- Fight discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools
The GSA just wants to STOP the harassment and discrimination towards homosexuals. The club is not just for gay people, it is also for straight people who want this discrimination to end. Six out of the seven OPS high schools have a GSA club, and at Central and Fremont High School's yearbooks have had layouts for the club. Several school districts have been taken to court by the ACLU, and the judges have ruled in their favor, that the club can meet at school and that it doesn't interfere with abstinence-only education. Another non-sponsored club by schools includes the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. If the FCA can meet at school, under their real name, and can announce their meetings, shouldn't the GSA be able to also? Under the First Amendment and the federal law all clubs should be treated the same, so shouldn't the Gay-Straight Alliance be treated the same as other clubs?
Inigo Montoya
2 comments:
Although I may disagree with homosexuality, I agree with freedom of assembly. This group should have the right to meet just as much as any other group.
I went to a school that dealt with the same problem. In the end, the GSA club did get approved, but it took a lot of fighting for that to happen. I don't understand why the school's administrators would watch passively as posters for the club were defaced and teachers were publicly denouncing it. None of the staff wanted to stand up for the club because they were afraid.
I think that discrimination is the same whether it's against race, gender, or even sexual preference. It's a shame that the teachers who preach about equality could be so ignorant and hypocritical.
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