Gay student club holds forums at Minnesota school re. court rulings
In the first of two forums, attended by more than 50 students and community members, members of a student group at Maple Grove Senior High School known as Straights and Gays for Equality (SAGE) tried to clarify their mission of drawing attention to and fighting harassment against gay, lesbian, transgendered and bisexual students. In April 2006 a federal judge ruled that the group must have to the same access to school communication tools that other student groups use, such as hall posters and the public address system. The students called the forums in response to what they termed a pattern of misinformation and complaints that they had heard from students. One rumor was that the continuing lawsuit had caused a moratorium against new student organizations. District 279 spokesman Pat Brink said that no such moratorium exists; however, the Osseo School Board has appealed each ruling in S.A.G.E.'s favor in order to reserve the right to classify student groups based upon whether or not they are related to school curriculum.
Two students, with their parents, sued the Osseo School District in October 2005, claiming that the group was due the same tools to communicate with and to advertise to the student body as other "noncurricular" groups for such activities as cheerleading and synchronized swimming. U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen ruled in the students' favor. The district's subsequent appeal was denied by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2006. In September of last year, Ericksen issued a permanent injunction, saying the group must give S.A.G.E. equal access; the district again has appealed. The students noted that the group had grown from just two or three at a meeting to as many as 38 last time, many of whom are straight. And they've noticed that both students and teachers have been likelier to call others to task for homophobic comments.
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune, 3/19/08, By Maria Elena Baca
[Editor’s Note: The September 2007 ruling is summarized below. The suit was brought under the federal Equal Access Act, which requires a school to grant equal access to all student noncurriculum related organizations if it recognizes any.]
NSBA School Law pages on SAGE v. Osseo Area Sch. Dist. No. 279