North Carolina student encounters stiff community resistance to Gay-Straight Alliance club
Danielle Smiley, a student at Currituck County High School in North Carolina, has encountered stiff community resistance to her attempt to form a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club at the school. Danielle began thinking about putting together the club after being harassed at school. "I was thinking last year how great it would be to be able to stop this," she says. Local pastors and parents have denounced the proposal, contending the club could help spread AIDS, encourage children to engage in sex, and persuade others to become homosexual. During a recent school board meeting, pastor Scott Pollard of Moyock Assembly of God said, "It just seems to me that it is very disturbing where we've come in society when something of this nature could come before us and be considered by so many." Danielle says the GSA will not be a "gay club" dedicated to recruiting homosexuals and promoting sexual activity, but rather will focus on raising awareness about homosexuality among all students. She says the club will provide gay students with the opportunity to talk with peers instead of with their parents or adults. Although more than 130 people attended the board meeting to address the proposal and the board’s policy on clubs, school board members did not discuss the matter publicly. Board chairman John Barnes said the board will consult with Superintendent C. Michael Warren and school attorneys before announcing a decision. The issue comes down to protected free speech, officials said. Schools can't discriminate against students who want to form a club with views differing from a community or school board, Ken Soo, the school district's attorney, told those in attendance. "The activity you cannot limit is speech [that] you do not like," he said. "The great weight stands on the side of free speech."
Raleigh News & Observer
By Associated Press
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[Editor’s Note: The provisions of the federal Equal Access Act (EEA) also apply to access by GSAs. See below.]
School Board News
By Carol Chmelynski
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