Footloose? More ignorance.

[Pookie]

ACLU Blasts Wyoming School for Having Police Escort Same-Sex Couple Out of Homecoming Dance

November 21, 2003


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BIG PINEY, WY -- After two girls were marched out of a high school homecoming dance by police, the American Civil Liberties Union today sent a letter to school officials demanding that they allow same-sex couples to attend school dances.

“I couldn’t believe that our school was so threatened by the idea of two girls going to the homecoming together that they had police officers waiting for us,” said Amanda Blair, a senior at Big Piney High School in rural western Wyoming. Blair added, “It’s really sad that this is the kind of attitude that lesbian and gay students at my school will face when they want to bring a date to a school dance.”

Blair, an honor student who participates in swimming, band, basketball, track, and choir, had listed a female friend as her homecoming date when she signed up for the September 12 dance. School officials told her that same-sex dates aren’t allowed at dances. Blair is heterosexual, but she and her friend decided to attend together in order to help lesbian and gay students in her district who may want to bring dates to school dances in the future. When Blair and her date arrived at the dance the next evening they were met by local police officers, who then escorted them off the premises without any explanation.

“Too many schools don’t understand that students have a Constitutional right to take a same-sex date to events like homecoming and prom,” said Ken Choe, a staff attorney with the Lesbian & Gay Rights Project of the ACLU. “Amanda and her date were illegally prevented from doing the same things that other couples attending a school dance do -- seeing their friends, getting their picture taken, and having a fun evening.”

In a letter sent today to officials at Sublette County District #9, the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project and the ACLU of Wyoming demand that the illegal policy be lifted, citing a 1980 federal case in Rhode Island. In that case, a federal judge ruled that students who want to bring same-sex dates to school dances are not only protected under the free expression provisions of the First Amendment, but that schools must take steps to ensure their safety when they do bring same-sex dates to school dances. In the 23 years since Fricke v. Lynch was decided, students throughout the U.S. have brought same-sex dates to school dances without incident.

“Our family is outraged that Amanda was treated like a common criminal just for trying to take who she wanted to the dance,” said Kris Blair, Amanda’s mother. She added, “I’m proud that my daughter is standing up for the rights of her gay and lesbian friends. Gay students in our town should not have to face this kind of humiliation in the future.”

The Fricke v. Lynch decision can be read at http://archive.aclu.org/court/fricke_decision.html .

Source: http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=14446&c=106

Know your rights and privileges. Just because someone says we can't do something, doesn't make it so. In many cases, it only shows that person's ignorance. That seems to be the biggest thing we have to fight ... ignorance.

 

[Pookie]

An article at cnn.com that I just read ...

Student challenges same-sex date policy

Sunday, November 23, 2003 Posted: 8:43 AM EST (1343 GMT)


BIG PINEY, Wyoming (AP) -- A straight teenager is challenging a school district policy that bars students from bringing same-sex dates to school dances.

In September, Amanda Blair tried to defy the rule by taking another young woman to the homecoming dance at Big Piney High School. They were kept out by sheriff's deputies at the request of school officials.

Blair, a senior at Big Piney, has now enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties in formally calling on Sublette County School District No. 9 to lift the same-sex date ban.

In a letter sent Thursday to Superintendent B. Weldon Shelley, the ACLU stated the policy violates a 1980 federal court ruling out of Rhode Island. The decision handed down in Frick v. Lynch found that students who bring same-sex dates to school dances are not only protected by the Constitution but that schools must take steps to ensure their safety when they attend the dances.

Ken Choe, of the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, said the ban violates students' constitutional rights to freedom of expression and equal treatment.

Blair said her test of the policy is meant to help and support her peers who are homosexual.

"I think it would be a lot harder if I were a lesbian to do this for myself. I'm helping those who are."

Blair and her mother went to the school board after the homecoming dance, asking that the rule be changed. Kris Blair said she and her daughter contacted the ACLU after getting no sign from board members that the ban was going to be lifted.

A Sadie Hawkins event scheduled for Friday night was called off after school officials said there could be no dances in the district, according to Blair.

Shelley, the superintendent, was out of town Friday and Big Piney Principal Lee Kinney did not return calls. The district's attorney was traveling and not available for comment.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/11/23/school.dances.ap/index.html

 

[Pookie]

A nice development ...

Wyoming School That Had Police Remove Same-Sex Couple from Homecoming Dance Agrees to Let Same-Sex Couples Attend All Future Dances

December 9, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BIG PINEY, WY -- In response to a letter sent by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two girls who were marched out of a high school homecoming dance by police, the Sublette County School District has agreed that same-sex couples will no longer be excluded from school dances, the ACLU announced today.

"This is a terrific victory for the lesbian and gay students in our school," said Amanda Blair, a senior at Big Piney High School in rural western Wyoming. "From now on, all students, not just straight students, will be able to enjoy school dances. It's good to know that you can make a difference by standing up for what's right."

Blair, an honor student who participates in swimming, band, basketball, track, and choir, had listed a female friend as her homecoming date when she signed up for the September 12 dance. School officials told her that same-sex dates aren't allowed at dances. Blair is heterosexual, but she and her friend decided to attend together in order to help lesbian and gay students in her district who may want to bring dates to school dances in the future. When Blair and her date arrived at the dance the next evening they were met by local police officers, who then escorted them off the premises without any explanation.

"We are very pleased that the school has decided to follow the law and do right by its lesbian and gay students," said Linda Burt, Executive Director of the ACLU of Wyoming. "It's unfortunate that Amanda and her date were so brutally excluded from participating in this year's homecoming dance. But by coming forward and standing up for their rights, they have made the school a better place - especially for the lesbian and gay students who now know their school won't exclude them from dances because of who they choose to date."

The Sublette County School District's assurances that students can bring same-sex dates comes in response to a letter the ACLU sent to district officials on behalf of Blair and her date. The letter, citing a 1980 federal case in Rhode Island, pointed out that students have a constitutional right to bring same-sex dates and demanded that the school allow them to do so. In the Rhode Island case, Fricke v. Lynch, a federal judge ruled that students who want to bring same-sex dates to school dances are not only protected under the free expression provisions of the First Amendment, but that schools must take steps to ensure their safety when they do bring same-sex dates to school dances. In the 23 years since Fricke was decided, students throughout the U.S. have brought same-sex dates to school dances without incident.

"Amanda should be commended for her efforts to make Big Piney High School a better place for lesbian and gay students," said Ken Choe, a staff attorney with the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. "Thanks to her bravery and determination, high school has become a little more bearable for the gay students, who no longer have to worry that police officers may be waiting for them should they choose to bring a date to a school dance."

"We are especially glad that we were able to resolve this issue without litigation, thus sparing the students the pain and the school the expense," Choe added.

The Fricke v. Lynch decision can be read at http://archive.aclu.org/court/fricke_decision.html.

Source: http://www.aclu.org/LesbianGayRights/LesbianGayRights.cfm?ID=14548&c=106

 

[sachiaiko]

:beams!:

Its people like that girl who make me feel glad I'm human.

That was very brave, and it shows that one person and her determination *CAN* make a difference in our world even when faced with something so big and intimidating.

Nikki