A Virginia senate
committee killed a bill that critics argued would have
given school boards the right to ban gay-straight alliances
from high schools. The senate education and health
committee on Thursday voted 9-6 to nix Del.
Matthew Lohr's bill, which would have clarified that school
boards can prohibit any student club from using school
facilities if the group encourages or promotes "sexual
activity by unmarried minor students."
Local school
boards already have the authority to ban events that promote
sexual activity, but the bill's proponents argued that it
was needed to clarify the law and allow the attorney
general to defend school boards if they were sued
because of prohibitions. The house of delegates passed the
bill on a 70-29 vote in January.
Dyana Mason,
executive director of Equality Virginia, called the bill a
"thinly veiled attempt to allow and even encourage some
school boards to discriminate against gay-straight
alliances."
Lohr said that
argument was simply untrue. "This bill is not aimed at
eliminating gay-straight alliances from our schools," said
Lohr. "I'm sure the majority of them are doing good
things. This bill just gives the school board more
legal authority that they can act when there are clubs
that are promoting sexual activity."
Meanwhile in
Utah, a bill to ban gay-straight alliances in that state was
left in limbo when legislators ended their 2006 legislative
session on Thursday without bringing it up for a vote.
The bill could be revived if lawmakers come back for a
special session later this year. (AP, with additional
reporting by Advocate.com)
