Utah Students Protest Over Ban on Clubs

Hundreds of students walked out of school Friday and some marched on the state Capitol to protest a ban on extracurricular clubs that is aimed at preventing students from having gay-lesbian support groups.

The demonstrations were peaceful, but a 14-year-old girl was seriously injured when she was hit by a car on her way to the Capitol.

At East High School, about 400 students gathered across a busy two-lane street from the school, shouting, “We will fight for our rights,” and hoisting signs reading “Separate Church and State” and “Honk in Support of the 1st Amendment.”

Another 100 students watched, some denouncing the alliance of gay, lesbian and straight students for forming the group that led to the school board’s 4-3 vote Tuesday to ban all nonacademic clubs.

About 200 students walked out of West High and marched a mile to the Capitol.

“Over the past couple of years, the Legislature, the school district and the administration have pushed their morals on us,” said Andrew Hunt, a junior.

“Not everybody cares about the gays and lesbians,” added Stacie Cottrell, 16, a West High sophomore. “But they banned the Hispanic club, the theater club, all of them.”

Vanessa Palme, a member of the gay-lesbian-straight alliance that sought formal recognition at East High, said: “They’re wrong to take away all the clubs.”

School board attorneys have said they did not want to invite a lawsuit under the federal Equal Access Act, which requires schools to treat all non-curriculum-based clubs the same.