Posted: March 21, 2003

Judge Hears Kentucky School Club Case

The battle between Boyd County High School and a group of students looking to set up a gay-straight alliance (GSA) in the Kentucky school has worked its way in front of a federal judge. With help from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the students filed suit against the Boyd County High after it decided to prevent all clubs from meeting on school grounds.

A council of students and teachers at the high school denied the club recognition twice last fall before the ACLU got involved, warning the council was breaking federal law. After negotiations with the Boyd County Board of Education, the council went forward with the all-club ban, which was supposed to stay in place until July 2003.

The ban sparked the ACLU to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in January on behalf of 25 students looking to form the club, arguing that the decision was made specifically to hamper the students' rights under the federal Equal Access Act and the First Amendment.

The ACLU asked U.S. District Judge David Bunning to grant an injunction that would force the Boyd County school district to allow the GSA to begin meeting. The ACLU pointed out that the school had allegedly given permission for other student groups to hold meetings despite the all-club ban.

During a two-day hearing, students looking to set up the club testified as to why it was important at Boyd County High. ''I believe that no matter what your sexual orientation is, you should be treated equally as human beings,'' said Tyler McClelland, 17, a Boyd County High senior, after testifying about the harassment gay students face at the school.

Lawyers for the school argued that the decision was based on the school's desire to keep the situation from getting any more heated and emotional than it already had become. Last fall students opposed to the club walked out of class in protest with the help of area churches.

''They did so to return the school district to its basic mission,'' Winter Huff, an attorney for the school, told the Courier-Journal in Lousiville.

Judge Bunning issued no ruling after the two days of hearings concluded. Instead he gave attorneys a week to file legal briefs.