Judge: Gay Club Can Meet At Yulee High

WJXT-TV, Wed., March. 11, 2009

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. on Wednesday granted a preliminary injunction requested by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida to force Nassau County school officials to allow a students promoting tolerance for gays to hold club meetings on campus.

Nassau County schools had prohibited a Gay-Straight aliance from meeting at Yulee High School. Students Jacob Brock and Hannah Page, backed by the ACLU, filed a lawsuit challenging the restriction.

Adams ordered the district to grant official recognition of the Gay-Straight Alliance and give it the same privileges as any other student organization. He also ruled that the group did not have to change its name -- one of the objections of school officials.

"This is a victory for our clients, for the Yulee High GSA, and indeed for gay and straight kids all across America," said Robert Rosenwald of the ACLU of Florida. "Time and time again, we've seen discrimination and intolerance struck down by the courts in these cases, and for every school that wishes to cross the line, we'll be here to defend the students."