A friend of mine wants to start a Gay-Straight Alliance in our High School. I support him 110%. In order for the club to be started, it has to be OKed by Student Government. I’m apart of Student Gov, and I fear they will not let this pass.
Would he, or I, have any legal recourse against them? I know in Utah, when they wouldn’t let a HS have a G-S Alliance club, the state banned all extra-curricular activities in that school. Does California have a similar law?
There will be a Gay-Straight Alliance in my HS, but it’ll be a lot easier to do if I can say, “Uh, by banning this, you are breaking the law. I’ll give you a chance to reconsider before I go to the ACLU, thank you.”
Hey!
Congratulations on your strength of character and fortitude. It’s really uncommon in high school (at least it was in my experience). I’m pretty sure there are plenty of GSA’s in California, there is certainly not a law banning them. You might want to check out the ACLU’s website, as well as P-FLAG (www.pflag.org) the Human Rights Campaign (www.hrc.org) and FindLaw (www.findlaw.com) to get more information. Good luck.
The above seems to suggest that all extra-curricular activities were banned at the school in Salt Lake City as punishment for their refusal to allow a GSA. I’m not sure if this is what you really meant to say or not, but that’s not the way it happened. The school did not want to allow a GSA, and when Kellie Peterson et al. decided to fight them the school found that it could not legally discriminate against a GSA club. If the school wanted to get rid of the GSA it would have to get rid of all extra-curricular clubs, so that was what it chose to do.
I don’t think your school could legally be forced to recognize a GSA group, but it could be forced to choose between doing that and eliminating extra-curricular activities altogether.
First of all, if you know the school won’t go for that idea, why would you start such a faction within the school itself?
You could start it outside the school & advertise within the school, right?
You might get substantially less objection for this if you frame it as a Mental Health issue instead of as a Civil Rights issue. I mean, your objectives can be both (I think they’re closely tied–all the support in the world won’t help someone who is treated like a second-class citizen so much of the time). However, I think that it is the “politicization” of gay rights that get some people mobilized against these organizations. Support for gay teens is a huge, huge, HUGE mental health issue as well, and I think it’s a lot harder for dissenters to argue against that.
You might contact some of the local mental health agencies for help.
Yeah, I know, that’s what I meant.
Well, I went to the Administration today and asked them how it would work. Actually, this is what happened…
(Not an exact replication of the conversation. “Student 1” said some pretty ignorant things that don’t bear repeating.)
Student 1: I read in the school newspaper that the school is recquired to allow a G-S alliance club
Mrs J: Yes, that’s true. The school board says that we can’t ban it.
Student 1: What if I started a petition and got the club blocked?
Me: If you did that, I would call everybody who would listen and bring law suits against the school, if needs be.
Student 1: Can she do that?
Mrs J: She can, but it doesn’t matter, because the school board already told us we can’t block it.
And there ya have it. But I have a feeling we haven’t heard the last of this.
Good job, Pepper! 
Nothing helpful I can add, 'cos our legal situation is different, but on principal, …Attagirl.
Hi Pepper,
It’s nice to see you someone getting the things they want out of HS. All I ever got that I wanted was getting OUT of HS.
Just out of curiosity what is a Gay-Striaght Alliance club and what would you do?
I believe the main purpose of the Gay-Straight Alliance is to educate and offer support. Many people are intolerant and bigoted out of ignorance (“Well, my parents/pastor/friend says that all gays are child molestors, so I hate em”)
Also, from what I understand, it’s extremely hard to be gay (or different in anyway really) in HS. Instead of suffering from isolation and pain, people can know they have somewhere to go, a group of similar people who will understand.
Pepper, you rock.
One stumbling block you may run into is that most schools require a faculty member as a sponsor for any school related organization before it can be accepted by the school as official. Is there such person at your school who is out or brave enough to be the official “gay” teacher? They could well see their jobs on the line. Not officially, of course, but when a teacher has rocked the boat too much, official reasons can be found by administrators and board members.
(one minor thing though, pepperlandgirl-“110 percent”-Leave bad cliches to the jocks, you’re clearly too intelligent for this one.)
Good for you, pepperlandgirl. What reasons did Student 1 give for not wanting a GSA chapter in your HS?
That’s great advice. One thing they can definitely provide is statistical ammunition to support your cause. People love numbers. Mental health agencies can supply all sorts of stats on the gradual increases in teen suicides, teen depression, teen agression, teen violence, etc. Plus they can demonstrate how these numbers specifically might relate to homosexual teens and how community awareness and support can help to alleviate these problems.
I think you’re the coolest PepperLandGirl!
Believe it or not, when I read your post, “Hey Bulldog” was playing on the radio. I think it’s an omen. You’re on the right track to do great things!
I have to share this story.
Once, when I was in high school, I was transporting a science project from the ground floor to a 3rd floor classroom and this guy gets on the elevator with me. Only audio/visual geeks, students with a special one-time pass (like me), janitors, and students that were hurt somehow were allowed to use the elevators. This guy was a very popular student that had hurt his knee playing football and was on crutches. They allowed him to leave classes a few minutes early to beat the student rush, use the elevator and get to his next class on time without getting bumped around. We exchanged pleasantries (I was sort of popular in my own right but in a different way, and we knew of each other) and got on the elevator. Well, maybe a second or two after the elevator doors close, this guy says, “Do you want to make out?” Totally shocked I turn and slowly say, “Excuse me?” He then forces a laugh, starts looking around nervously and says, “I’m just kidding. A little elevator humor.” or words to that effect. I forced a laugh too and we both got off the elevator.
Many years later now, I think about that guy a lot. With the wisdom of my age and experience I now realize that this guy was majorly gay. Even though he had tons of friends and was constantly surrounded by people, I think he must have been so sad and lonely inside. My high school was a long time away from ever even considering having a Gay/Straight Alliance and I can’t imagine what good it would have done him just to know that there were other people like him out there and that it was okay. Even if he didn’t join the alliance or come out, just to know might have done him a world of good.
School clubs like these are absolutely essential if we want our children to grow into healthy and able adults.
I have to share this story.
Once, when I was in high school, I was transporting a science project from the ground floor to a 3rd floor classroom and this guy gets on the elevator with me. Only audio/visual geeks, students with a special one-time pass (like me), janitors, and students that were hurt somehow were allowed to use the elevators. This guy was a very popular student that had hurt his knee playing football and was on crutches. They allowed him to leave classes a few minutes early to beat the student rush, use the elevator and get to his next class on time without getting bumped around. We exchanged pleasantries (I was sort of popular in my own right but in a different way, and we knew of each other) and got on the elevator. Well, maybe a second or two after the elevator doors close, this guy says, “Do you want to make out?” Totally shocked I turn and slowly say, “Excuse me?” He then forces a laugh, starts looking around nervously and says, “I’m just kidding. A little elevator humor.” or words to that effect. I forced a laugh too and we both got off the elevator.
Many years later now, I think about that guy a lot. With the wisdom of my age and experience I now realize that this guy was majorly gay. Even though he had tons of friends and was constantly surrounded by people, I think he must have been so sad and lonely inside. My high school was a long time away from ever even considering having a Gay/Straight Alliance and I can’t imagine what good it would have done him just to know that there were other people like him out there and that it was okay. Even if he didn’t join the alliance or come out, just to know might have done him a world of good.
School clubs like these are absolutely essential if we want our children to grow into healthy and able adults.
Go, girl!
“Student 1” is someone I know quite well. Her reasons for not wanting the club on campus were religious. I’m very disappointed in her. She is a member of the LDS Church, and it’s mainly because of people like her that I don’t go to church anymore. You know the addage, the church is perfect, the people are not.
It made me extremely sad when she walked away and said, “Well, I’m thankful I’m graduating this year, but my little brother and sister will have to put up with crap like this.” It was at that moment I realized that I couldn’t respect her the way I used to.
TV time I’m 99% sure that there is a teacher who is willing to sponsor my friend, but I’m not sure who it is. Though on the campus the size of AHS, there is probably more than one teacher willing to take that role.
I don’t think that’ll be a problem since the schoolboard has already made it clear that the school administration doesn’t have a choice in the matter.
To demonstrate how much pepperlandgirl rocks, I will forego my usual .sig for this post. Go, girl! 
Esprix
Don’t disrespect her to the point of lost friendship. You should reach out to each other and talk about this more – away from meetings and time tables. Understand that religion plays a huge role in personal views like this, maybe even some of your own views. It is very hard to get past that. Try to reach a mutual understanding, even if it’s an understanding that you will never see eye to eye but will still respect each other’s views (to a point, of course). In HS I had tons of friends that had nothing in common with me politically or religiously, but we respected each other’s opinions and had a helluva good time together.
Expect a brief outcry from the public if this gets done. Expect a lot of rough seas (and rough talk). And realize that membership might be very small at first. The threat or perceived threat of verbal or even physical abuse from others will probably keep 50% of the gay students wary and 99% of the straight students away. It could take a while to build trust and some time to get students to take that chance. That’s the odd twist on this subject… The straight students in the group will probably see more verbal abuse and redicule for their position than the gay students. And expect some people you trust and respect to turn on you faster than a cobra strike. Them’s the breaks. And you might make it on the O’Reilly Factor. Any media coverage at all will of course be both good and bad.
Someone mentioned that courage and commitment is rare on HS campuses. I don’t see that at all… I was in HS only a few years ago. You would not believe what you get from students when you put them in an environment that promotes thought and discussion. There is a lot of potential that just needs to be tapped into. And there is a lot of courage and strength on these campuses. I think today’s life requires that, what with the shootings and threats of shootings and all. It has to make you stronger.
If you really want to liven things up, have an open public debate once the group is formed. I’d love to be there for that one. That would be some can of whoop-ass.
SF