Orange Schools to Allow Gay-Straight Club

In a settlement designed to end a yearlong controversy that has wreaked havoc in the Orange Unified School District, officials agreed that El Modena High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance club may meet on campus provided that members do not discuss sex.

“The school district is going to heave a collective sigh of relief,” district spokeswoman Judy Frutig said of the plan, announced Tuesday. The contentious issue, she said, “has detracted from the environment of quality education offered here. By reaching a settlement and moving forward, we’re getting back to the business of what the school district is all about.”

Laura W. Brill, a lawyer representing the student club, said: “The main thing is that this agreement recognizes the Gay-Straight Alliance and says they can continue meeting on the same basis as other student groups.”

The agreement hinges on approval--expected Thursday night--by the district’s Board of Education of several changes in the regulations governing all student clubs that meet on campus. Two members of the board have rejected the agreement, officials said, but five support it.

Specifically, district officials said, the rules will be changed to include language prohibiting discussion of “sexual activity” during club meetings and to require that parents be notified annually of all student clubs meeting and of their right to prevent their children from attending.

A draft of the revised policy prohibits the “explicit discussion of sex acts or sexual organs” but not the discussion of sexual orientation or issues related to it.

The new regulations would also require students participating in club meetings to maintain a grade-point average of at least 2.0, or a C.

“We got the GPA we wanted, and we got the parent approval,” board member Maureen Aschoff said Tuesday. “That was important to us. It’s a very emotionally charged issue, and sometimes the facts got to be in the background.”

There is no financial settlement included in the agreement, officials said.

The controversy began a year ago when El Modena students Anthony Colin and Heather Zetin started a club to promote acceptance and understanding among students of various sexual orientations. Some residents and school board members objected, citing concerns about parents’ rights, the possible influence of outside groups and club discussions overlapping with sexual-education curriculum.

Three months later, the school board denied the club permission to meet on campus. The students filed a lawsuit, citing federal access laws denying federal money to school districts that discriminate against clubs based on what might be discussed at their meetings. They also accused the district of violating their rights of free speech and equal protection under the law. Earlier this year, a federal judge ordered the district to allow the club to continue meeting until the lawsuit could be settled.

The issue, meanwhile, has been a source of strife across the community. A 17-year-old was arrested after allegedly biting a school principal during a melee at a school board meeting in March at which black-clad protesters tried to wrest the microphone from a speaker opposing the club. Prosecutors eventually declined to press charges.

The pastor of a Methodist church in Orange resigned after a rift with congregants incensed by his support of the club.

And more than a third of El Modena’s students skipped their classes when the controversy attracted a host of demonstrators, including followers of a Kansas pastor notorious for his contention that God hates homosexuals.

On Tuesday, though, some board members expressed hope that those days have passed.

“I’m very much looking forward to creating a stable environment at all schools, including El Modena,” Trustee Robert Viviano said. “I’m very hopeful this will put an end to further controversy.”

Board member Kathy Ward agreed. While standing by her original motion to ban the club as “the correct thing” to do at the time, she said Tuesday that “it’s been a journey, a long journey. The journey is, hopefully, coming to an end, and we’re all thankful that it’s coming to an end.”