GSA Club Ruled Illegal by Federal Court

Court rules Texas school can forbid gay student club from meeting on campus

Caudillo v. Lubbock Independent School District, No. 03-165 (N.D.Tex. March 3, 2004)

A federal district court in Texas has ruled that a school district did not violate the First Amendment or the federal Equal Access Act (EAA) when it denied a gay student club’s request for access to school fora. Students at Lubbock High School formed a club that became known as the Lubbock Gay Straight Alliance (LGSA).

They requested permission from Lubbock Independent School District (LISD) to pass out club flyers, use the public address system, and meet on campus. Their request stated LGSA’s goals, which included educating youth about safe sex. The proposed flyer contained the address for LGSA’s Web site, which in turn linked to two other Web sites that provide detailed information on sexual matters.

When officials denied the request, the students sued. Addressing their free speech claim first, the district court found that LISD had not engaged in impermissible viewpoint discrimination for two reasons. First, LISD policy forbids discussion of sexual matters and applies to both heterosexual and homosexual viewpoints. Based on Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986), LISD has the authority to exclude sexually explicit, indecent, or lewd speech.

The court concluded that both the discussion of safe sex and the websites linked to LGSA’s site are speech of an indecent nature contemplated in Fraser and, therefore, that LISD engaged in permissible, viewpoint- neutral exclusion of sexual subject matter. An important factor was that children as young as 12 attend the school.

Second, under Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988), LISD has the authority to ban speech that is "inconsistent with its basic educational mission." LISD exercised that authority when it rejected the LGSA’s request, because the group’s goal of discussing safe sex is inconsistent with LISD’s "abstinence only" policy.

Turning to the EAA claim, the court found out that LISD had created a "limited open forum" under EEA, which requires LISD to give LGSA the same access it provides any other noncurricular student club unless one of EEA’s exceptions applies. The court concluded that EEA’s "maintain order and discipline" exception applied, the court ruled, because LGSA was proposing to discuss illegal activity, i.e., sex by minors. The "well being of the students" exception also applied, because the online material and the group’s goals are at odds with the district’s compelling interest in protecting students from the harms associated with sexual activity by minors and their exposure to sexual matters. Download the judge's opinion at http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov/judges/notable2.html

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