Kentucky high
school student fights required pro-gay training

An eastern Kentucky high school student is appealing a ruling by a federal judge that supported requiring anti-harassment training in his school district. The ruling last month by U.S. district judge David Bunning said that students could not choose to "opt-out" of the training, which is aimed at combating harassment based on "actual or perceived sexual orientation."

The training sessions were part of a settlement in 2004 of a three-year dispute between the Boyd County school district and a now-defunct gay-straight alliance that wanted recognition as an extracurricular group. The student, Timothy Allen Morrison II, his parents, and two other parents sued the board of education over the requirement, which penalizes students with an unexcused absence if they do not attend the training.

An antigay Arizona-based Christian legal group, the Alliance Defense Fund, filed the appeal to the sixth U.S. circuit court of appeals Tuesday on behalf of Morrison. "The school district is attempting to change the beliefs of students without their parents' consent," said Kevin Theriot, a Kansas-based lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund.

Bunning ruled last month that the training is "rationally related to a legitimate educational goal, namely to maintain a safe environment." The American Civil Liberties Union has joined the case in support of the school district. (AP)