Lesbian Students Question Sudden Policy Change

A lesbian high school couple in Champlin, Minn., were told that they cannot walk into a school dance together after Anoka-Hennepin school district administrators changed rules to make students walk in one at a time instead of in pairs.

The two girls were picked by their fellow students as royalty, similar to that of homecoming queen and king, for the Snow Days event at Champlin Park High School, scheduled for Monday. According to KSTP News, they were subsequently told that royalty will not be able to walk into the festivities together. School officials who made the decision said it was to avoid offending other students.

In the wake of the change, the Southern Poverty Law Center, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and attorneys at Faegre & Benson sent a joint letter to school administrators, saying they will file a motion for a temporary restraining to keep the school from going forward with the sudden change.

"We are simply asking that these two students be granted the same rights as every other student, as they are due under both state and federal law," Sam Wolfe, lead attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in a statement Friday. "It is an absolute shame that the school and school district have tarnished what should be a joyous celebration through these discriminatory actions. Hopefully, they will see the error in their ways, and correct it immediately."