Judge Hopes Gay Club Issue Reaches High Court

After hearing three days of testimony on whether a club for gay students should be allowed to meet on a high school campus, a federal judge said Wednesday he hopes the case will be appealed regardless of how he rules and eventually will go before the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said the issue before him will continue to crop up and that the high court should make a definitive ruling.

Carter said he will issue his ruling Feb. 4 on a request by two students at El Modena High School for a preliminary injunction ordering the Orange Unified School District to allow their Gay-Straight Alliance to meet on campus. Anthony Colin, 15, and Heather Zetin, 16, say their goal is to establish a forum for students to discuss issues of acceptance and discrimination.

The judge’s questions at the end of the hearing seemed to indicate that he is leaning toward granting the preliminary injunction. The students’ attorneys have argued that the district violated their First Amendment rights and other federal laws.

Carter began by quickly striking down one of the school board’s points: that the word “straight” used in the group’s name was derogatory toward heterosexuals. “That argument has no credibility in this court,” he said.

At the same time, the judge seemed frustrated that the case has not been settled. “It is easily resolved, quite frankly, to benefit both of you,” he said.

He said he would not send the case to a mediator, as James Bowles, the school district’s attorney, suggested.

Attorneys for both sides declined to comment on which way they thought the judge was leaning.

The Orange Unified trustees last month voted unanimously to bar the Gay-Straight Alliance from El Modena, citing concerns that the students could be pawns of outside groups and that they might discuss sex education matters that the state Education Code regulates.

Trustees want “gay” taken out of the club’s name and want it to have a mission statement saying explicitly that the group will never discuss sex, sexuality or sex education.

Carter read aloud the last line of the students’ current mission statement: “This is not a sexual issue; it is about gaining support and promoting tolerance and respect for all students.” Then he said, “It seems like an attempt to spell out that sex isn’t going to be discussed.”

He pointed out that the group has an advisor who is supposed to keep members from delving into inappropriate areas.

School board attorney Bowles conceded toward the end of the hearing that “we all agree a club of this nature would be in the best interests of the students.”

But when Carter asked whether the word “gay” was derogatory and objectionable, Bowles described it as “objectionable” and “sexual.”