Florida Principal Says "No Gay-Straight Club for You!"

Shannon LC Cate — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:30:00 GMT

When high school and middle school students in Yulee Florida public schools put together their plans to form a gay-straight student alliance, they were told that clubs with names referencing sexual orientation would not be allowed and their club was denied.

I'm sure it was the "straight" part that got to them.

Gay-straight alliances have been forming in middle schools and high schools for about a decade now. There are hundreds of them all over the country. The clubs are student-led, faculty advised, and follow the setup rules of any other school club. Their purpose is to bring students who are queer-identified together with students who aren't and ally them in keeping the school safe for everyone.

The ACLU has taken up the cause of the kids in Yulee and will be arguing that the school administration's decision to disallow the club violates the Equal Access Act, since other clubs organized in the same way are allowed to use school facilities. This isn't the first time such a challenge has been posed for a gay-straight alliance, and it won't be the last.

Meanwhile, good luck to the brave kids in the Yulee schools for holding out for what is fair.

School Board Member Uses Gay Slur, Says Student Said it First

JeanneSager — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:18:00 GMT

He's stepping down from his post as a member of the board of education in Robbinsville, NJ, but maybe Joe Armenti would be better suited back in high school? The board has been facing pressures from an outraged public since Armenti used the word "faggot" in response to a teenager's presentation to the board on a ban on the use of offensive language.

His initial excuse? The teen said it first. Excuse me, who's the teenager here?

Joseph Armenti's exact words, according to the Times of Trenton were, ""If my son wants to call somebody a faggot he should be allowed to; it's his First Amendment right." In other words - he's protecting his son's right to be a bigot and a homophobe. What a stand-up Dad. It was a response to a presentation by a student who was advocating the school district begin a program to report using offensive language via a "suggestion box." Students who used inappropriate words would then be approached by a counselor to discuss the situation. The student presenting the idea to the board used the word "faggot" as an example of language that would fall under the program.

What's disturbing isn't that Armenti used the word. In fact, as a reporter who depends on the right to freedom of speech in this country to make a living, I wouldn't step in to tell an adult what he can or can't say - even if I don't agree with him. To paraphrase Hamlet, "words, words, words," are what you make of them. But for a school board member to promote kids' "right" to spew hate toward one another is disturbing. And that's what Armenti was doing when he chose the word "faggot" rather than "s**t" or "f**k" or any of dozens of words deemed offensive by some but not down-right prejudiced and hate-filled.

That this came from the mouth of someone at the top level in a school system makes this story that much more disturbing. If this is what they're feeling at the top, what's trickling down to the kids? When the board meets later in the month to accept his resignation, I'd suggest Armenti spend a day in a classroom, maybe follow around one of the members of the Robbinsville High School's Gay-Straight Alliance. He could see just who he's protecting his son to insult.

Image: PinkNews

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Strollerderby : gay-straight alliance

Florida Principal Says "No Gay-Straight Club for You!"

School Board Member Uses Gay Slur, Says Student Said it First