Gay Students Win 12 Month Legal Battle With Kentucky School

[davidinalameda]

whoo hoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/02/020304boydSettles.htm

A year-long battle over the creation of a gay-straight alliance (GSA) club at Boyd County High School, in Ashland, has ended in victory for the students.

The district has agreed to allow the club to meet and to treat all student clubs equally. It also agreed to conduct an anti-harassment training for all district staff as well as all students in high school and middle school, and to pay the ACLU and students' legal fees..

"The Boyd County Public Schools wasted over a year's time and a lot of taxpayer money to try to stop these students from having their club, when a federal judge had already made it clear that the district was breaking the law by trying to silence students who wanted nothing more than a place to talk about how to stop anti-gay harassment and discrimination at school and in the community," said Tamara Lange, an attorney with the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project who represented the GSA.

[beyurslf]

1. An awesome win for these kids

Thanks for all the great articles on queer issues. You always keep everyone here informed!

[Duncan Grant]

2. I'll second that acknowledgment!

Thanks dwickham for keeping DU informed! :yourock:

[davidinalameda]

3. this is a story that hits close to home

I did grad work close to Boyd County--at Marshall U which is basically across the river from Boyd--and I knew people from the area and how bad they had it

the place is bible thumper central--not a slam on all Christians but just those Christians w/o Christ (love that term)

I'm so glad that they won

[callous taoboy]

4. Fantastic!

Good prevails over evil, something I think we'll see a lot more of in the coming months.

[Don_G]

5. Unfortunately, That's KY In General

With the probable exceptions of Louisville and Lexington.

I'm straight myself, but I don't hate anything or anybody blindly (with the three exceptions being asparagus, crack-heads and Fundies).

I can always work with a clear-headed SOB over a drug-user anytime; I only wish that the odor of asparagus wouldn't make me upchuck at 300 yards.

"Fundies" are a different story and follow their own convoluted logic: Jesus, hatred and whatever....

I'm glad they won too because the laws were defined since 1776 from what "we" wanted by the Supreme Court and the triad of Regan, Poppy and Dimbo hasn't altered them much...so far.

[Hokie]

6. This was a total victory for the GSA and the ACLU

This paragraph says it all:

"The district has agreed to allow the club to meet and to treat all student clubs equally. It also agreed to conduct an anti-harassment training for all district staff as well as all students in high school and middle school, and to pay the ACLU and students' legal fees.."

Credit should also go the the First Presbyterian Church in Ashland, KY. They provided a meeting place for the GSA while Boyd County was illegally preventing them from meeting at the high school. This was a courageous act to do in the middle of all the controversy.