From The Clarion Ledger (emphasis added):
Rankin County school board members approved a change in the district's school club policy on Wednesday in an attempt to prevent students from creating what Superintendent Lynn Weathersby referred to as "gay clubs."
Weathersby brought up the issue at Wednesday's school board meeting, making clear his intentions to limit such organizations in Rankin County schools.
"I talked to (board attorney) Freddie (Harrell) and several administrators about what we could legally do to limit organizations like that on campus that we don't want to endorse and don't want," Weathersby said.
What a great piece of evidence to have when the district gets sued for content-based speech/association restrictions.
But look at this, too. The school board members didn't even know that there were any attempt to create a GSA:
Although school board members and officials said they were not aware of any attempt to form a club in the district, Brandon High School theatre teacher Janice Weaver said she was approached by a student in December who expressed a desire to create a gay-straight alliance (GSA), or a student-led, student-organized club aimed at combating anti-gay discrimination and bullying in schools. Weaver said the student submitted the proposal for the club to school administrators.
The
Human Rights Campaign points out the obvious problem with what the board has done:
Federal law provides protections for student groups. According to the Department of Justice, “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.” The American Civil Liberties Union cites several cases in which the courts upheld students’ rights to form organizations that support LGBT students, such as Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs). Cases dating back to the 1990’s demonstrate students have the legal right to start clubs that provide a safer school environment, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Repeatedly, the courts have ruled all students must be treated equally with dignity and respect.