ACLU Takes on Barring Gay Straight Alliances
March 24, 2008
A case which could change the lives of LGBTQ youth is moving forward into federal court with Yasmin Gonzalez, now a college student but former president of Florida’s Okeechobee High School’s Gay Straight Alliance. Gonzalez says that in 2006 she and her girlfriend were barred from attending prom together, and along with that and other instances of discrimination towards LGBTQ students, led to the formation of the GSA on campus.
Gonzalez is being represented by the ACLU who became interested in the case after the school barred students from holding GSA meetings in the school. The school believes the students should not be allowed to meet because their abstinence only education revolves around teaching students the importance and benefits of a monogamous and heterosexual marriage. It is unclear what will happen in this case but as a former GSA president in a semi-rural area who experienced harassment from students, parents, and had minimal support from administration, I can relate. I only hope that this case will set precedence allowing the formation and support of GSA’s in schools across the country.
–Sassafras Lowrey
