Gay school club
refuses offer
to change name, end
lawsuit
BY RACHEL SIMMONSEN,
The Palm Beach Post from the Web, November 16, 2007
A lawsuit over the Gay-Straight
Alliance of Okeechobee High School could be settled if students agreed to change
the name of the club, according to lawyers for the Okeechobee County School
Board.
But a lawyer for the ACLU, which represents the club, said its members already
have rejected the idea of changing the name.
"The students have made clear that the name of the club is important to them
because it describes their mission," said Robert Rosenwald, a lawyer with the
American Civil Liberties Union. "From the beginning, the purpose of this
club has been to prevent harassment and discrimination against gay students."
The club and its founder, Okeechobee High School graduate Yasmin Gonzalez, sued
the school board last year, arguing it violated federal law by not allowing the
Gay-Straight Alliance to meet on school grounds.
Attorneys for the school board have argued that the Gay-Straight Alliance is a
"sex-based club" that violates a Florida statute requiring schools to teach
abstinence "while teaching the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage."
A judge has said the club can meet on campus while the case works its way
through court.
The trial is scheduled to start in March, though Rosenwald has asked that it be
pushed back until September, because the defendants won't share the names of
their expert witnesses.
In a court filing Wednesday, David Gibbs, an attorney for the school board,
argued against the requested delay, saying the ACLU has had "ample time" to
prepare its case. The school board has refrained from "premature
disclosure" of its experts "in order to avoid unnecessary media exposure and
harassment," Gibbs said in the filing.
Gibbs also said that pushing back the start of the trial would delay a "timely
settlement" that could "be accomplished by changing the name of the club."
According to his filing, one of the club's members has suggested changing the
club's name to ADAPT, short for Accepting Diversity And Promoting Tolerance.
However, after talking to Rosenwald, the student said the name couldn't be
changed until after the lawsuit is settled, Gibbs said in the filing.
Rosenwald called Gibbs' statement "plainly inaccurate," saying it's school
officials, not students pushing for a name change.
Gibbs could not be reached immediately for comment.
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