Wyoming board votes to prohibit display of banners promoting an anti-discrimination campaign sponsored by gay rights group
According to an Associated Press report, the Wheatland School Board has voted 4-3 to prohibit the display of banners promoting an anti-discrimination campaign because a gay rights group is helping sponsor the program. The Anti-Defamation League's "No Place for Hate" banners were placed at Wheatland High and West Elementary. The program is designed to teach young people about tolerance and respecting differences, according to the Anti-Defamation League. District administrators removed the signs after parents and school board members raised concern because the banners list the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado as a sponsor. Some students requested the banners be replaced, but the board refused. School board member Lee Dunham said, "If this is the way one chooses, then they can lead this particular lifestyle, but I don't believe it needs to be publicly displayed in a school." The district intended to allow the anti-discrimination campaign to continue, Superintendent Stuart Nelson said. But the Anti-Defamation League won't allow the Wheatland schools to participate without the presence of the banners, said Bruce DeBoskey, mountain states regional director for the group. “[The Anti-Defamation League] will no longer allow the program if it's not being honored and used in its fullest intent," he said. Linda Burt of the Wyoming chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union also criticized the board's decision, saying it's "extraordinarily unfortunate and extraordinarily shortsighted."
Source Casper Star-Tribune, 1/24/10, By Associated Press
[In 2007, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Philadelphia School District removed recognition of Gay and Lesbian History Month from its 2007-08 school calendar after being hit with a barrage of complaints, some of which "bordered on terroristic threats." A summary of the article is available at the link below. In 2009, two Tennessee school districts were sued by the ACLU when the filtering software in effect on the districts’ computers blocked student access to certain informational websites about gay, lesbian and transgender issues. A link to the article reporting one district’s work to fix the software glitch to allow access to such sites appears below.]
NSBA School Law pages on Philadelphia school district calendar controversy
NSBA School Law pages on Tennessee school district software controversy