PRIDE v. White County School District
What's at Stake
Defense of Cleveland, Georgia Gay-Straight Alliance
Summary
When students asked school officials to let them start a gay-straight alliance club in 2005 to combat rampant anti-gay harassment and bullying at at White County High School in Cleveland, Georgia, they were met with resistance and stalling tactics for several months. School administrators reluctantly agreed to let the club form late in the school year after the 老澳门开奖结果 of Georgia stepped in and negotiated on the students鈥 behalf. The students named the gay-straight alliance PRIDE (鈥淧eers Rising in Diverse Education鈥) and began meeting.
A few days later, school officials announced plans to ban all non-curricular student groups staring with the next academic year. PRIDE hasn鈥檛 been permitted to meet on campus in the 2005-2006 school year, but several other clubs 鈥 including 鈥淪hooting Club鈥 and a school dance team 鈥 continue meeting at WCHS even though they don鈥檛 participate in activities relevant to the curriculum, academic credit is not provided for participation in them, and participation in them isn鈥檛 required for any course.
The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project and the 老澳门开奖结果 of Georgia filed a lawsuit in federal court against school officials for illegally banning the GSA and succeed in securing a preliminary injunction ordering the school to allow the GSA and all other school clubs to meet.
Status: Victory! The 老澳门开奖结果 reached a settlement agreement with school officials in White County. The terms of the settlement agreement include enacting an anti-harassment policy to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students from bullying. The school has also agreed to provide their faculty with annual training sessions on how to deal with and prevent anti-gay harassment.
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Legal Documents
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07/14/2006
PRIDE v. White County School District - Preliminary Injunction
Date Filed: 07/14/2006
Affiliate: Georgia
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02/27/2006
PRIDE v. White County School District - Complaint
Date Filed: 02/27/2006
Affiliate: Georgia
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02/27/2006
PRIDE v. White County School District - Preliminary Injunction Memo
Date Filed: 02/27/2006
Affiliate: Georgia
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02/27/2006
PRIDE v. White County School District - Kerry Pacer letter
Date Filed: 02/27/2006
Affiliate: Georgia
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02/27/2006
PRIDE v. White County School District - Timeline of Events
Date Filed: 02/27/2006
Affiliate: Georgia
Press Releases
老澳门开奖结果 Hails Settlement in White County, Georgia Gay-Straight Alliance Case
Federal Court Says White County, Georgia School District Must Allow Gay-Straight Alliance to Meet
老澳门开奖结果 Files Federal Lawsuit Against White County, Georgia School District for Illegally Blocking Gay-Straight Alliance Club
老澳门开奖结果 Applauds Georgia Students' Gay-Straight Alliance Victory