A federal judge has ruled that a Florida high school gay-straight alliance must be allowed to meet.
Judge Henry Adams ruled that Nassau County school board officials violated the First Amendment and Federal Equal Access Act in denying official recognition of the club.
The school board had denied two students permission to start a gay-straight alliance at Yulee High School, near Jacksonville, saying that its name "highlighted specific sexual orientations" and thus violated school board policy.
Adams ordered the school board to grant official recognition to the gay-straight alliance and afford it the same privileges as any other student organization. In addition to granting the club permission to meet on campus, the judge's order prohibits the school from forcing the club to change its name, as the principal had previously demanded as a condition for official recognition.
The two students filing the suit were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, under the counsel of Robert Rosenwald. Of the ruling, Rosenwald told The School Library Journal , "This is a victory for our clients, for the Yulee High GSA, and indeed for gay and straight kids all across America. Time and time again, we've seen discrimination and intolerance struck down by the courts in these cases, and for every school that wishes to cross the line, we'll be here to defend the students."
