A high school senior in Florida turned to a teacher's aide for help last September after younger students taunted her for being gay, saying "dykes" are "nasty," "gross" and "sick." In doing the right thing, "Jane Doe" set off a shocking but ultimately inspiring chain of events in Panama City.
The resulting federal court ruling and a similar one also won by the American Civil Liberties Union are timely reminders that gay and gay-friendly kids have the right to express themselves and form clubs.
In Jane's case, the principal of Ponce de Leon High School called her in, told her it wasn't "right" to be gay, and asked whether her parents knew her sexual orientation. Jane said no. The principal informed them, leading her father to threaten to kick her out of the house.
Jane's school friends stuck up for her by doing such things as writing "Gay Pride" on themselves and wearing gay-friendly T-shirts.
The principal suspended 11 students for belonging to an "illegal organization," apparently a reference to supporting Jane.
The school board backed up the principal, affirming bans on such slogans as "Equal, Not Special Rights," "Gay? Fine by Me" and "I Support My Gay Friends."
But Federal Judge Richard Smoak, a Republican appointee, stood up for gay and gay-friendly students. In Gillman vs. School Board for Holmes County, he declared, "The robust exchange of political ideas is essential in a vibrant, progressive society and is precisely the type of speech that is sacrosanct under the First Amendment."
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http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080811/OPINION03/808110320/1031
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