Federal Court Says Okeechobee High SchoolMust Allow Gay-Straight Alliance Club To Meet

TOPIC: gay rights, high school, freedom of speech

In an article titled "Judge: Gay club can meet at Okeechobee high school," the MiamiHerald.com reported Wednesday 7/30/2008 the ruling of federal judge K. Michael Moore:

By KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press Writer

MIAMI --
A school district in rural Florida must allow a Gay-Straight Alliance to meet on campus and must provide for the well-being of gay and straight students, a federal judge ruled, capping a nearly two-year legal battle over First Amendment rights.

Students do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate," Judge K. Michael Moore said in a written ruling issued Tuesday night, quoting another case.

Kennedy also alludes to the case involving (former) high school principal David Davis of Ponce de Leon High School:

Earlier this year, a Florida judge said a Panhandle principal led a "relentless crusade" against gay and lesbian students at Ponce de Leon High School and violated their First Amendment rights by trying to prevent them from wearing gay pride clothing, stickers and buttons.

By the way: former principal David Davis, who ended up costing his Holmes County School District more than $300,000 in damages and attorney fees, has now elected to return to the classroom to teach … American government and other classes! American Government?! OMG. (see "Ponce de Leon High School Principal Back to the Classroom," 7/24/2008, referenced below.) ANYWAY, Kennedy notes that:

Her lawsuit [against Okeechobee] cites the 1984 federal Equal Access Act, which was initially pushed by evangelical Christians after some public schools banned after-school prayer meetings and other religious gatherings. It says that if a public school allows any extracurricular activities to meet on campus it must allow all groups to do the same.

There's some great irony for you!

The actual ruling can be downloaded in pdf form from the ACLU site at: http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/36195lgl20080729.html.

I'm looking forward to a detailed reading of that document. In the mean time, I notice that the Gay Straight Alliance is not mentioned on the Okeechobee High School website nor is any link provided to the GSA under the website's listing of "clubs."

I DID notice, however, that the school website included the picture of the school mascot "Bubba" shown above. The picture itself is ironic after you read about some of the supposed shenanigans the school went through to deny the Gay Straight Alliance club the right to meet.

RELATED REFERENCES

Bubba the Brahman (picture of the Okeechobee High School mascot), accessed 8/2/2008 at web page http://www.okee.k12.fl.us/ohs/mascot/mascot.htm.

Gonzalez v. School Board of Okeechobee County - Case Profile (5/21/2008 ?). American Civil Liberties Union (online), article accessed Sat 8/2/2008 at web page http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/35421res20080521.html.

Gonzalez v. School Board of Okeechobee County - Order Granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment; Denying Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (7/29/2008). PDF document available for downloading, accessed Sat 8/2/2008 at web address http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/36195lgl20080729.html.

JUDGE REJECTS OKEECHOBEE SCHOOL BOARD'S ATTEMPT TO BLOCK GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT (3/13/2007). American Civil Liberties Union (online), article accessed Sat 8/2/2008 at web page http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/29025prs20070313.html.

Kennedy, Kelli (7/30/2008). Judge: Gay club can meet at Okeechobee high school. MiamiHerald.com, accessed 8/2/2008 at web address http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/623334.html.

Okeechobee High School website: accessed Sat 8/2/2008 at web address: http://www.okee.k12.fl.us/ohs/index.html.

Ponce de Leon High School Principal Back to the Classroom (7/24/2008). wtvynews4.com, accessed 8/2/2008 at web page http://www.wtvynews4.com/news/headlines/25875264.html

Ponce de Leon High School website: accessed Sat 8/2/2008 at web address http://pdlhs.hdsb.org/