Ethics

Must GSA Clubs Admit Anti-Gay Students?

By Ed Brayton

Here's a fascinating case. A high school in Washington refused to allow a GSA club to get official school recognition because the charter of the group, which had to be submitted to the school during the application process, required that members sign a piece of paper saying that they supported equal rights for the entire LGBT community. The school said this violates their anti-discrimination policy, which says that student clubs must be open to all students.

A Federal district court ruled in favor of the school, saying that the anti-discrimination policy was a reasonable basis for denying recognition of the student group. But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling and remanded it back to the court to decide whether the group should have been granted an exemption from that policy, as other clubs at the school have been granted.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on April 30, 2008 (boomark / email).