Board Should Endorse Gay-Straight Club

Last month, several students at El Modena High School in Orange sought to start a gay-straight alliance on their campus. The students’ quest for this student-run support group was met by opposition, first by a hesitant principal, then by a conservative school board. The formation of the gay-straight alliance was the topic of a public forum held last week by the Orange Unified School District. A decision is expected Thursday.

The trustees of the Orange Unified School District have a moral and a legal duty to allow the students to form the club. There is a crisis facing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, a crisis that some would rather ignore. Consider the following statistics from university studies:

* These youths are twice as likely as heterosexuals to have seriously attempted suicide;

* 45% of gay males and 20% of lesbians reported having experienced verbal or physical assaults in high school because they were perceived to be gay or lesbian;

* They are 4.9 times more likely than heterosexual students to have missed school in the previous month because of fear;

* A typical high school student hears anti-gay slurs as often as 25 times a day;

* 53% of students reported hearing homophobic remarks made by school staff.

These alarming statistics show that gay youth are indeed neither physically nor emotionally safe in our public schools.

Unquestionably, something must be done. School boards are entrusted to serve and protect all children, including those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender or those who might be questioning their sexual orientation. A gay-straight alliance is one way of reducing anti-gay violence, harassment and discrimination. It would help educate school communities about homophobia and foster a greater degree of understanding from students and school staff. Clearly, the trustees must act responsibly and allow the club to exist.

If empathy doesn’t impel the trustees to approve the club, federal law should. The Federal Equal Access Act of 1984 prohibits the denial of equal access of school facilities on the basis of religious, political, philosophical or other characteristics that school officials may find objectionable.

This same law gives students the legal right to form a gay-straight alliance.

A decision to allow the gay-straight alliance at El Modena High School is compassionate, sensible and law-abiding. In doing so, the trustees also will honor the core principles of the Constitution, such as freedom, justice, and equality--values Americans cherish so dearly. Most important, a gay-straight alliance would provide students with the support they so desperately need.

Luis Torres is a social science teacher at Marco Forster Middle School in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Costa Mesa. He is co-chair of the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network--Orange County, the local chapter of a nonprofit national organization devoted to making schools safe for all youth, regardless of sexual orientation.