ACLU
Sues School That Canceled
Rent

The American Civil Liberties Union sued officials at a Newport Beach high school Wednesday for canceling a production of Rent , charging that administrators fostered a "sexist" and "homophobic" environment, according to the Los Angeles Times .

Controversy flared at the school in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District in February, when the principal allegedly canceled a student production of Rent because of the musical's gay content. The production was rescheduled after students rallied and garnered support for their cause on Facebook.

Part of the 36-page complaint filed by the ACLU in Orange County superior court focuses on a Facebook video posted in January that was used to threaten a female student at the high school. Three football players, who used antigay slurs in the video, threatened to rape and kill the woman.

The ACLU charges that the Newport-Mesa Unified School District's superintendent and the high school's principal and assistant principal all chose to "ignore obvious signs of a school culture gone awry." It contends that discrimination at the school violates state and federal equal-protection provisions, and seeks damages and revised procedures to manage harassment.

School officials said the lawsuit contained numerous factual errors and mistakes.