Final settlement in
White Co.
gay support club case
By Fokes Link,
AccessNorthGa.com from the Web, January 10, 2007
ATLANTA -- A settlement was
announced Wednesday in the lawsuit over the gay-straight alliance club at White
County High School.
The ACLU released a statement saying the settlement requires White County's
school system to set rules for grades 9-12 prohibiting harassment of homosexual
and transgender students. It also requires the system to provide annual
training to faculty in handling and preventing anti-gay harassment.
The ACLU represents a group of students at White County High School who sued the
school system after it barred Peers Rising In Diverse Education (PRIDE), a gay
support club, from meeting on campus.
This is reportedly the final settlement in the case, which reached a tentative
settlement in December, in which the school agreed to pay the ACLU $168,000 to
cover court costs and another $10,000 to the student plaintiffs.
In July, a U.S. District Court issued an injunction requiring the school to
allow the club to meet, also saying that White County cannot discriminate
against student groups based on the religious, political, philosophical or other
content of their speech.
The case brought PRIDE's founding President Kerry Pacer to national prominence,
with gay-themed magazine The Advocate naming her "Person of the Year".
Representatives of White County Schools could not be reached for comment.
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