Kentucky high school pulls safer-sex brochures targeting gays

Officials with Scott County High School in Georgetown, Ky., on Friday prohibited an AIDS service organization participating in a health fair for the high school's students from displaying four brochures that were targeted toward gays and lesbians. Cathy Cox, executive director of Lexington, Ky.-based AIDS Volunteers, Inc., said the organization was told to remove any materials that included the gay pride flag or information about "alternative lifestyles." School principal Doug Southworth said he instructed a teacher to tell the group to remove a brochure called "Safer Sex Can Be Fun," but claimed he did not ask for any other materials to be removed. However, Cox said teachers also removed brochures titled "Young and Gay: Protect Yourself," "Lesbians and HIV: Are You at Risk?" and "Safer Sex, Better Too." Southworth said he believes it is inappropriate to hand out brochures promoting sex, safer sex, or homosexuality in a school setting. Cox said all of the material brought by AIDS Volunteers to the school health fair was appropriate for teenagers.