ACLU: Allow Students Access to LGBT Resource Websites

Unblocking online LGBT resources in a Georgia school district will not subject students to inappropriate material, the American Civil Liberties Union said in response to a recent claim from a conservative legal group.

The ACLU, which earlier this summer sent a demand letter to Gwinnett County Public Schools asking administrators to remove Internet filters on LGBT sites, said that the Alliance Defense Fund's claims of exposing students to adult content in an August 1 letter is untrue. "Anyone can understand the difference between pornography and websites like the It Gets Better Project or PFLAG, which provide critical information and support for LGBT students," ACLU staff attorney Joshua Block said in a statement.

"The websites identified by ADF should have been placed in [the filter's] categories for adult or mature content, which are designed to block all sexual content regardless of whether it is straight or LGBT," Block said. "The fact that these websites have been inadvertently placed in the non-sexual 'LGBT' category only underscores the problems that can occur when a company tries to create a special category for issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity in the first place."

The ADF has called the ACLU's demand letter to the school district a "scare tactic."

Read the story here via Snellville Patch.