"Something Schools Should Welcome . . ."

Here’s some good news: the Federal Appeals Court recently ruled that Osseo Area Schools here in Minnesota must let a gay student club have the same access to school facilities and resources as all other clubs.

Following is an excerpt from a statement released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.

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MINNEAPOLIS – Finding that school officials violated federal law in limiting access for a gay rights club, a federal appeals court today issued a permanent injunction that orders Osseo Area Schools to let the club have the same access to school facilities and resources as all other clubs.

The ruling came as the result of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota today on behalf of Straights and Gays for Equality (SAGE), a student club at Maple Grove High School.

“The federal Equal Access Act makes it crystal clear that schools can’t pick and choose how they treat clubs based on which students’ views they like and which ones they don’t,” said Chuck Samuelson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Minnesota. “These students wanted nothing more than a place to talk about how to stop anti-gay harassment and discrimination at their school and in the community. That’s something schools should welcome, rather than waste taxpayer money and break the law to stop.”

A copy of the ruling can be downloaded here.

Above: Students from Maple Grove Senior High School
at OutFront Minnesota’s 2008 Lobby Day – April 17, 2008.
For more images of this event, click here.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Confronting Classroom Homophobia
“A Courageous Document”
“A Valiant Effort”

Images: Michael J. Bayly.