Gay-Straight Alliance wins lawsuit and can meet at Yulee High

Following up on a story Blast Off! brought you the other day, yesterday U.S. District Judge Henry Adams ruled in favor of the two Yulee High School students whose efforts to launch a Gay-Straight Alliance club at the school were squelched by the Nassau County School Board. And the judge didn't mince words, either, in holding that the Board's argument -- the group's name was the problem because it violated the county's abstinence-only sex education policy -- was specious:

In a strongly worded order, U.S. District Judge Henry Adams said the students have a “substantial likelihood of success” in court, a standard for granting the preliminary injunction. He said the school district’s argument against allowing the club to meet “strains logic.”

[...]

But Adams wrote that existing cases, including one decided last year involving a Gay-Straight Alliance in Okechobee County schools, didn’t support the district’s position.

“There is no evidence that the alliance counters the relevant abstinence policy in any way,” Adams wrote.

Great news for the students, and great news for tolerance in general ...

For those interested, here's the complaint (.pdf) filed by the ACLU on behalf of the students -- note especially the letter, marked Exhibit B, from the Nassau County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. John L. Ruis, stating that a "club name highlighting specific sexual orientations will not be permitted [to meet] as it would violate school board [abstinence-only] policy." The actual opinion by Judge Adams apparently is not available yet online.