A Story of Brave and Resourceful High-Schoolers in Oregon
by Jim Moore
Anyone who has gone to high school can recall this experience: whether it’s called social studies, civics, government, history or something more exotic, we’ve all studied the concepts of constitutional government, freedom of speech, and how in the United States you have inalienable rights and the ability to peacefully stand up for them.
For a lot of high school students, these lessons are painfully abstract – the equivalent of “Why will I need algebra in my adult life?” But for students in two Oregon high schools, the ACLU – along some adult role models – helped them apply those abstract principles in their real lives.
Students at both Forest Grove and Pendleton high schools had a simple goal: establish a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club. And while their efforts took slightly different paths and faced different obstacles, the ACLU of Oregon helped both groups establish GSAs – and put a real-world spin on what they learned in their high school civics class.
At Forest Grove High School, what started out as a simple idea grew until it include a coalition of supporters.
At Pendleton High School, what started with two brave students who wanted to observe the National Day of Silence, evolved into a complicated community issue.
In both cases, the turning point for success was a letter written by a lawyer volunteering as an ACLU legal advocate, sent to the schools on behalf of the students.
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“I was at Basic Rights Oregon’s Day of Action, and there were representatives from other GSAs there supporting it,” Jessie Lewis, a former FGHS student now preparing to enter college, explains. “I thought it would be cool to have one at our school.”
When Jessie returned to school, she pursued her idea, filling out the paperwork and obtaining signatures from two of the three administrators needed. But the principal denied the request, saying that the existing group Students Organized Against Prejudice (SOAP) was essentially filling the same role and a GSA wasn’t necessary.
So Jessie composed a petition protesting the decision, and she and some friends circulated it, gathering more than 100 signatures in one day. They accessed information on the federal Equal Access Act (EAA). And they presented their case to the principal again. He took the information to the district superintendent – who denied the request, again citing SOAP as an equivalent resource for students.
“We wanted the GSA to help with lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender (LBGT) issues,” Jessie says, “not issues as broad as SOAP. We felt we were hitting a wall, so we went to the local Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the Pride Project and the Oregon Safe Schools Coalition (OSSC). Theresa Noble of PFLAG of Forest Grove connected us with the ACLU.”
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During the 2006-07 school year, two students at Pendleton High School decided to observe the national Day of Silence on their own. They were ridiculed, and teachers forced them to talk. That didn’t sit well with Vickie Read, a school counselor and president of the local PFLAG chapter.
“A girl came to me the next year and asked me if I would help,” Vickie recalls. “I started researching, and we invited eight kids we thought might want to participate. Thirty-five kids showed up for the first meeting; I was so excited!”
On the actual Day of Silence, 150 kids participated, either directly or in support of the event. But some community members, including the minister of a conservative church in town, were upset, and they “crashed” the Break the Silence meeting after the event. It was an uneasy situation, and a group of students decided to form an official club that would work against bullying and other injustices.
After organizing, the kids decided they wanted to form a GSA, feeling that gay and lesbian students at PHS were not represented and were being harassed. After appearing before the student council in the fall of 2008 and being approved as a club, the group started meeting and advertising for that school year’s Day of Silence.
But then the school principal – reluctantly – informed them that they were a “controversial/divisive group” and that the school board was going to vote on their status as a club. While the principal didn’t agree with the decision, a community member had complained that the club hadn’t followed proper procedures. But no other club had, either.
“When the principal said the school board would vote on our application, I knew that wasn’t right,” Vickie says. “We were the only club being subjected to this. I was put in contact with Jann Carson at the ACLU.”
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In both cases, the ACLU turned to Bill Patton, an attorney and shareholder at the firm of Lane Powell PC.
“As a lawyer it rankles me when I see administrators trying to stop students from doing something like forming a GSA,” Bill says. “It’s a violation of the students’ civil liberties, and there’s never a good reason to do it. The administrators reach for pretexts to deny the students.”
“And it troubles me personally; the work GSAs do is so important. High school can be a difficult time for anyone, but even more for those struggling with their sexual orientation. It benefits the student body to be exposed to different perspectives.”
So Bill examined the particulars of each situation.
The Pendleton case seemed a clear violation of the EAA, which says in part that if any extracurricular clubs are allowed, all other are allowed. It also involved Oregon’s 2008 anti-discrimination law, as well as the First Amendment in terms of the Day of Silence.
The Forest Grove situation was different because the students had clearly been denied the right to form the club at all, based on the existence of the general anti-prejudice club.
Bill knew that both student groups had virtually unassailable legal grounds to fight back and win. At that point it became a matter of strategy and execution.
“My general approach is to contact the authorities involved – the principal, other administrators,” Bill says. “The best way is by letter. I explain the laws, why they should correct the problem. You don’t want to just file a lawsuit; give them a chance to correct things – which, to their credit, both schools did.”
There’s another great reason for the letter that Bill explains: Besides presenting a clear legal perspective and adding the implied prospect of a lawsuit, the letter actually serves as a valuable tool for sympathetic administrators.
“In a lot of cases there isn’t necessarily discriminatory intent toward the students,” he says. “Significant community pushback can influence decisions. The letter gives them something in their hands to explain/justify why they must act legally. It helps mitigate pressure from the community.”
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After the ACLU letter reached the Forest Grove principal, Jessie and a dozen other people met with the principal. Representatives from SOAP, PFLAG, OSSC and prospective GSA members all assured the principal that they would support his decision if it proved to be controversial, supplying any kind of assistance and resources they could.
“And literally the day after they got the letter, the club was approved,” Jessie reports. After being officially formed two weeks before 2008-2009 graduation, the Forest Grove GSA was ready to move into full action as the 2009-2010 school year began.
In Pendleton, after receiving the letter the school board contacted Bill to let him know the club would be approved. The school held another successful Day of Silence in May 2009, and the GSA is very active, with 30 members heading into 2009-2010.
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Looking back on the experience, Jessie, Vickie and Bill all took away some insight and perspective that can serve anyone – student, educator or member of the public – well when it comes to the power of legal rights and the ACLU’s role in backing them up.
“It was a crazy experience that solidified a desire in me to work in politics,” Jessie says. “I loved the way different organizations worked together to support each other. Without the support of the ACLU I think we would have been crushed. Bringing in adults, in collaboration, brought about this victory.”
“Anytime you bring up a hot-button issue in a small community, you’ll get pushback,” Vickie says. “People don’t talk about this kind of thing. But it starts a dialogue – and when there’s dialogue, people gain understanding.”
“The work we’ve done for the ACLU is another great example of why the ACLU exists,” Bill concludes. “It’s consistent with their mission – protecting the rights of ALL people to voice opinions, to freely assemble. And beyond the constitutional issues are important societal and educational issues. GSAs don’t just talk about sexual orientation – it can be a life-saving thing for kids to know others are like them and they’re not alone. For a lot of students, a GSA is their lifeline to other people who understand what they’re going through. And in some ways, the ACLU is the only organization that is there for them.”