http://www.alliancealert.org news from the frontlines of the culture war Thu, 24 May 2012 23:12:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/19/canada-halton-catholic-board-overturns-ban-on-gay-straight-clubs/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/19/canada-halton-catholic-board-overturns-ban-on-gay-straight-clubs/#comments Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:42:53 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=92291 Parent Central: "The Halton Catholic District School Board has struck down a controversial ban on gay-straight clubs that some newly elected trustees say did not reflect their views . . . at a meeting Tuesday attended by dozens of opponents to the ban, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Union, the new trustees voted 6-2 to scrap the clause that had sparked outrage from human rights advocates, sparked a protest petition and drawn a thumb’s-down from celebrity blogger Perez Hilton." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/19/canada-halton-catholic-board-overturns-ban-on-gay-straight-clubs/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/03/in-isolated-utah-city-new-clubs-for-gay-students/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/03/in-isolated-utah-city-new-clubs-for-gay-students/#comments Mon, 03 Jan 2011 20:02:15 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=89316 New York Times: "[A]t three local high schools here this fall, dozens of gay students and their supporters finally convened the first Gay-Straight Alliances in the history of this conservative, largely Mormon city. It was a turning point here and for the state, where administrators, teachers and even the Legislature have tried for years to block support groups for gay youths, calling them everything from inappropriate to immoral." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2011/01/03/in-isolated-utah-city-new-clubs-for-gay-students/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/10/29/gay-straight-clubs-targeted-in-washington-county-ut-school-board-race/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/10/29/gay-straight-clubs-targeted-in-washington-county-ut-school-board-race/#comments Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:09:26 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=79325 The Spectrum: "Gay-Straight Alliances were formed in March at four local high schools, after the Washington County School District Board of Education, under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union, changed its policies. The board has since taken steps to combat the clubs, unwanted by many in Southern Utah's socially conservative majority, by requiring parents' signatures to join noncurricular student clubs starting next year." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/10/29/gay-straight-clubs-targeted-in-washington-county-ut-school-board-race/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/08/19/justice-department-ny-school-gay-bias-suit-is-valid/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/08/19/justice-department-ny-school-gay-bias-suit-is-valid/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:51:46 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=69524 Watertown Daily Times: "The Justice Department has filed motion in U.S. District Court to participate in the case as an 'amicus curiae,' or friend of the court, essentially volunteering to help the court decide whether federal discrimination claims by former student Charles P. Pratt should be upheld. Mr. Pratt, who filed suit in April 2009, alleged he was harassed, called names, physically assaulted and threatened . . . Mr. Pratt claims that district officials were aware of the problems but deliberately refused to help him. He also said any attempts by him to form a Gay-Straight Alliance at the high school were shot down by administrators." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/08/19/justice-department-ny-school-gay-bias-suit-is-valid/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/07/02/law-review-gay-straight-alliances-and-sanctioning-pretextual-discrimination-under-the-equal-access-act/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/07/02/law-review-gay-straight-alliances-and-sanctioning-pretextual-discrimination-under-the-equal-access-act/#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:31:06 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=65013 Gay-Straight Alliances and Sanctioning Pretextual Discrimination under the Equal Access Act Jordan Blair Woods, 34 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 373 (2010) "This article addresses manipulation of the federal Equal Access Act to allow prejudice and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students who wish to form gay-straight alliances (GSA) in public schools. By focusing on patterns of argumentation in the recent surge of GSA litigation, this article argues that the incorporation of the constitutionally stringent standard developed by the Supreme Court in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District into the Equal Access Act's safe harbor exceptions is necessary to prevent courts from discriminating against LGBTQ students and from giving effect to the private homophobic and transphobic prejudices of community members, parents, and school administrators. Incorporating a more deferential reasonableness standard into the Equal Access Act's safe harbor exceptions allows school administrators to invoke LGBTQ student safety disingenuously as a pretext to ban GSAs; thus, the exact discrimination that the Equal Access Act was designed to prohibit becomes a way to evade its intended purpose." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/07/02/law-review-gay-straight-alliances-and-sanctioning-pretextual-discrimination-under-the-equal-access-act/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/03/24/law-review-parental-consent-policies-for-school-club-participation-aimed-at-gay-positive-student-groups/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/03/24/law-review-parental-consent-policies-for-school-club-participation-aimed-at-gay-positive-student-groups/#comments Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:32:15 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/wordpress/?p=56569 Of Permission Slips and Homophobia: Parental Consent Policies for School Club Participation Aimed at Gay-Positive Student Groups Ian Vandewalker, 19 B.U. Pub. Int. L.J. 23 (2009) "Gay-positive student groups, often called 'Gay-Straight Alliances' ('GSAs'), have become more and more common in the nation's high schools in recent years. They are a way for all students to show their commitment to equality and their acceptance of others, regardless of their sexual orientation. They may also function as a support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning youth trying to come to terms with the intolerance they face from peers, family members, and their broader communities. The need for such support is vividly shown by the strident opposition from parents and social conservatives that often accompanies students' efforts to form GSAs. One way schools react to attempts by students to form such clubs is by requiring that parents consent before students can participate in school clubs. These parental consent policies are facially evenhanded in that they apply to all clubs and do not single out GSAs. The context of their adoption, however, usually reveals that they are uniquely directed at the gay-positive groups, whose founding motivated the policies. Despite their evenhandedness, parental consent policies can be challenged under the federal Equal Access Act of 1984, which requires that student groups get 'equal access' to school resources." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2010/03/24/law-review-parental-consent-policies-for-school-club-participation-aimed-at-gay-positive-student-groups/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/12/02/activist-group-seeks-sexual-orientation-addition-to-u-of-alaska-policy/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/12/02/activist-group-seeks-sexual-orientation-addition-to-u-of-alaska-policy/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:21:00 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=43918 Associated Press: "Members of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Gay-Straight Alliance asked the Board of Regents on Monday to consider the change at their February meeting." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/12/02/activist-group-seeks-sexual-orientation-addition-to-u-of-alaska-policy/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/07/01/high-court-wont-hear-bible-club-case/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/07/01/high-court-wont-hear-bible-club-case/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:26:36 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=28855 CitizenLink: "Nate Kellum of the Alliance Defense Fund said the restrictions did not prevent anyone from participating. 'They certainly wanted others to attend to hear the good news of Jesus Christ,' he said. Kellum explained that other clubs in the school are able to put restrictions on membership. 'There was a group on campus called the Gay Straight Alliance,' he noted, 'and they limit their membership to only those who agree with particular views on homosexual behavior.'" ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/07/01/high-court-wont-hear-bible-club-case/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/05/21/iowa-students-say-club-permission-slips-unfairly-target-gay-straight-alliance/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/05/21/iowa-students-say-club-permission-slips-unfairly-target-gay-straight-alliance/#comments Thu, 21 May 2009 21:22:33 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=24790 reports in the Des Moines Register: "Gay-Straight Alliance student members Molly Richardson and Melissa Sheber said a change to require parent permission slips for clubs unfairly targeted their group. Some parents might keep students from participating in the GSA by not signing the form, Sheber said." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/05/21/iowa-students-say-club-permission-slips-unfairly-target-gay-straight-alliance/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/04/08/lambda-legal-sues-ny-school-for-gay-straight-alliance/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/04/08/lambda-legal-sues-ny-school-for-gay-straight-alliance/#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:18:31 +0000 ADF Alliance Alert http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=20727 Lambda Legal: "Lambda Legal, with the assistance of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, filed a lawsuit today at the US District Court for the Northern District of New York on behalf of Charlie Pratt, who endured years of antigay harassment during his time at Indian River High School, and his sister, Ashley Petranchuk, a sophomore who is trying to start a gay–straight alliance at the same high school years after her brother left." ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2009/04/08/lambda-legal-sues-ny-school-for-gay-straight-alliance/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/12/11/aclu-may-sue-school-over-gay-straight-alliance-club/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/12/11/aclu-may-sue-school-over-gay-straight-alliance-club/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:19:18 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/?p=10288 ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/12/11/aclu-may-sue-school-over-gay-straight-alliance-club/feed/ 0 http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/02/13/daily-law-review-watch-february-13th/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/02/13/daily-law-review-watch-february-13th/#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:40:12 +0000 Admin http://www.alliancealert.org/adf.php/2008/02/13/daily-law-review-watch-february-13th/ ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/02/13/daily-law-review-watch-february-13th/feed/ 1 http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/02/05/gay-straight-alliance-pushes-students-to-accept-same-sex-marriage/ http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/02/05/gay-straight-alliance-pushes-students-to-accept-same-sex-marriage/#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:47:58 +0000 ADF Alliance Alert http://www.alliancealert.org/adf.php/2008/02/05/gay-straight-alliance-pushes-students-to-accept-same-sex-marriage/ ]]> http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/02/05/gay-straight-alliance-pushes-students-to-accept-same-sex-marriage/feed/ 0