Gay-Straight Club’s Battle Is Won

Settling a federal lawsuit and ending months of controversy, Orange Unified School District trustees voted 5-2 Thursday to allow El Modena High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance to meet on campus, provided members don’t talk explicitly about sex.

After the vote, Anthony Colin, co-founder of the club and one of the students who went to court to keep the right to meet on school grounds, made an emotional speech to the board, at one point pausing to choke back tears. The settlement, he said, “will make the club more concrete. That will satisfy me beyond words.”

To the two board members who voted “no,” he said, “I still have a lot of respect for you guys, standing up for what you believe.”

The past year, he said, has been incredibly difficult for him and his family, who have been challenged and on occasion harassed, but have come through the ordeal much stronger.

“Don’t be fooled by my tears, because they are not a sign of my weakness. They are a sign of my strength,” he said.

School district officials announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with lawyers for the students, pending trustee approval, and a majority of the board had indicated that it would vote “yes.”

Some parents opposed to the club attended Thursday night’s board meeting to make a last-minute plea to the trustees. A few held protest signs. But the session proceeded smoothly with no outbursts, only quiet applause from club supporters after the voting.

That was a sharp contrast to a board session earlier this year when a melee broke out and a 17-year-old club supporter was arrested after a school principal was bitten.

Under the new rules, no student clubs may use meetings to talk about sexual activity, defined as “explicit discussion of sex acts or sexual organs” but not sexual orientation or issues related to it. The new regulations also require students joining clubs to maintain a grade-point average of at least 2.0, or C.

Controversy greeted the club when it was founded a year ago by Colin and El Modena student Heather Zetin to promote mutual acceptance and understanding. Some residents and trustees objected immediately, citing concerns about parents’ rights, the possible influence of outside groups and club discussions overlapping sex education curriculum.

In December, the school board voted unanimously to deny the club permission to meet on campus. Colin and Zetin filed a lawsuit accusing the school district of discrimination and violating their rights of free speech and equal protection under the law. Then a federal judge ordered the school district to allow the club to continue meeting until the case could be settled.

There were demonstrations on El Modena’s campus, including one in March by a dozen anti-gay protesters who traveled from Kansas to picket the school. That visit prompted a rally by club proponents, and more than a third of El Modena’s students skipped classes.

Kathy Ward, a trustee who voted for the agreement, said she did so rather than let the court case proceed and risk having a federal judge set policy for school districts across the nation.

Trustee Martin Jacobson, who voted “no,” said he believes that the Gay-Straight Alliance and similar organizations “have nothing to do with tolerance, respect or understanding. The goal is to legitimize homosexual behavior.”