Public schools that receive federal funds should not be allowed to pick-and-choose which clubs desired by groups of students get to exist based on the political opinions of school board members. Fortunately, that's not just my opinion, it's federal law. In 1984, legislation to that effect passed both chambers of the 98th Congress of the United States which had been drafted by conservatives seeking to protect religious clubs in public high schools including Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. The Equal Access Act was signed into law by super-villain of the left-wing President Ronald Reagan, who in this case apparently believed that government was the solution rather than the problem. Here's some of what the law says:
(a) Restriction of limited open forum on basis of religious, political,
philosophical, or other speech content prohibited
It shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives
Federal financial assistance and which has a limited open forum to deny
equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any
students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on
the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content
of the speech at such meetings.
It explicitly bans schools from not allowing clubs over disagreements with its members' views on religion
and politics. While it was passed with protection of religious clubs in mind, it has since developed a relatively recent history of successfully being used
in court to defend students' right to form a Gay-Straight Alliance or GSA, clubs where lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender students can come to together to find strength in community, raise awareness, and combat sexual-orientation-based prejudice in their schools.
This year, a group of students at Chambersburg Senior High School in Franklin County of southern Pennsylvania got together to form a Gay-Straight Alliance at their school. They attended the January meeting of their local school board and presented their proposed bylaws for a GSA club. The school board had some issues with the bylaws they asked the students to fix. When the students went to the February meeting with properly amended bylaws, the school board voted 5-4 to not allow the formation of the GSA. That means no meeting in school, no holding or advertising events or fundraisers in school, no inclusions in the morning announcements, and no participation in school functions.
But since Chambersburg Senior High School allows other clubs (including a Bible Club and Fellowship of Christian Athletes), the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania says that they are violating the Equal Access Act. ACLU-PA sent a letter to the school district on March 12 saying that if they hadn't reversed their decision and granted the GSA official club status by the end of March 15, they would be facing legal action on behalf of the students. That date just recently came and went, so although it's looking good for the students on legal grounds, this fight is just getting started.
If you want to support the cause of equal access for this Pennsylvania high school, there's an online petition you can sign to show it. There are some heart-wrenching personal perspectives also found there, from Thomas McCalmont who started the petition:
I went through 3 years of being denied starting a Gay-Straight Alliance at Chambersburg Area Senior High School when I was in attendance. A brave group of students and faculty fought to get a Gay-Straight Alliance implemented this year, but were denied by the board last month.
It's important for students to have support systems they might otherwise lack. Bullying has been an issue at the school even before I went there. It led to me being called "fag" or "faggot" or some variation of that every day. One year I was unable to dress in the boys locker room because it was a "solution" for the intense bullying I endured one day after gym class. The bullying escalated to the point of contributing to suicidal ideation my senior year. This club is crucial for the students.
to concerned sibling Nahid Ahmadi:
My little brother is an student in Chambersburg area school district. He was diagnosed with Autism when he was just a toddler. A few years ago he expressed to us the his feels like he is trapped in a wrong body and he doesn't want to boy. He gets teased and bullied enough at school because of his disabilities and I feel that him coming out will produce even more problems for him at school. I want him to be able to go to school and express his feelings. My brother and kids like him need to have a support system at school to help them get through the rough time at school and outside of school as well.
to concerned local citizen Beth Shupp-George:
As a member of the LGBT community, I know how important it is for LGBT youth to have a supportive environment. My daughter will be starting school in CASD in a couple of years, and I would like to know that she'll be in a school district that's supportive of our family.
to current Chambersburg Senior High School student Tiffany Bechtel:
I am apart of Gay-straight alliance at the Chambersburg Area High School and we will not give up. Kids need a place where they can talk and not be judged for it. To get advice from others that have went threw the same, or just to help. We aren't trying to make this a club for kids to "turn" gay and not all gays go there either, there are only about 4 that go and that is myself, my girlfriend and other group members. We got turned down because they believe that GSA is the same as Multicultural club, and that it won't help protect bullying. They legally can't do that and we are taking legal action to get this club approved.
It's hard to find the words to express how much pride I feel in these students who I don't even know. They know they're being treated unfairly, and are standing up for themselves and fighting for what they think is right. I don't know how politically aware they are, but I can't help but assume that the greatest motivating factor here is personal rather than political conscientiousness. I see it as activism in perhaps its rawest form. It's a truly beautiful thing.