Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in public schools

The Federal Equal Access Act
Student-led clubs in public high schools

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Overview of the law:

Most student-led, special interest, non-curriculum clubs must be allowed to organize in most U.S. high schools. Their right to assemble is usually protected under a federal law -- the Equal Access Act, (20 U.S.C. §§ 4071-74)  ₁

The law was originally heavily promoted by conservative Christian groups to allow students to organize religious clubs in public secondary schools. These are typically conservative Christian Bible study, fellowship and prayer clubs. One writer estimated that the number of Christian Bible clubs in high schools rose from 100 in 1980 to 15,000 by 1995. ₅ The Equal Access Act was a major contributor to this increase.

The Act affects much more than Christian clubs. Ironically, over opposition from the same conservative Christian groups that sponsored the law, the same legislation is now being used to support the right of students to organize gay/lesbian/bisexual support groups in those same high schools. The Act requires most schools to permit clubs of all religions, and none. Included might be groups which deal with Atheism, Goth culture, Heavy Metal music, Satanism, Wicca, other Neopagan religion, etc.  School districts can opt out of the Act by not allowing any non-curriculum clubs.

The Equal Access Law:

The Equal Access Act was passed in the Senate with a vote of 88 to 11; it passed in the House 337 to 77; it became law on 1984-AUG-11. The law applies only to public secondary schools which:

The language of the Act is quite clear. Such schools must allow additional clubs to be organized, as long as:

The school is required to treat all of its student-led non-curriculum clubs equally:

Thus, if the school receives financial support from the Federal government and already has one or more student-initiated, extracurricular clubs on campus, then additional clubs cannot be prohibited. One exception would be in the case of a group that can be shown to be disruptive to the educational process. The Equal Access Act and the U.S. Constitution itself protects students' right to the enjoyment of free association and speech.

Background information:

During the early 1980s, a number of decisions by lower-level courts had  interpreted the establishment clause strictly. In their rulings, the courts supported the right of school districts to prohibit student-led religious clubs on campus. Many school administrators followed these decisions, feeling that they were simply enforcing the First Amendment's wall of separation of church and state. 

In 1981, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Widmar v. Vincent, 454 US 263 that public universities which allowed political student-led groups to use campus buildings for their meetings could not deny equal privileges to a Christian student group on campus. They reasoned that university students are mature individuals. The students would realize that the university is acting in a neutral manner toward religion by allowing religious groups to meet on campus. The university would not be viewed as promoting religion by their equal treatment of all student groups.

The Equal Access Act was signed into law in 1984-AUG. It covers clubs in public secondary schools. It was ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990. ₂ The case, "Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens," was typical of many school conflicts over clubs. The school involved already had a chess, scuba-diving and a service club. But a group of Christians were not allowed to form an additional extracurricular group. Their club was to involve Bible study, prayer and fellowship. The Supreme Court issued a clear, 8 to 1 decision in favor of the club. They ruled that:

"that does not directly relate to the body of courses offered by the school. A group directly relates to a school's curriculum if the group's subject matter is actually taught, or will soon be taught, in a regularly offered course; if that subject matter concerns the body of courses as a whole; or if participation in the group is required for a particular course or results in academic credit."

"official recognition, which allows clubs to be part of the student activities program and carries with it access to the school newspaper, bulletin boards, public address system, and annual Club Fair."

This ruling has triggered many lower-court cases involving students and high school groups who had had their freedom of religious expression restricted by public school districts. Based on the Mergen's ruling, President Clinton and the Department of Education issued guidelines on religious expression in public schools in 1995.

Additional court decisions have further interpreted the law:

Wisconsin: Conflict between conservative Christians & gay students:

AgapePress, a conservative Christian news service, reported a conflict in the Evansville High School in Evansville, in south-central Wisconsin, some twenty miles south of the state capitol, Madison, WI. Presumably using the Equal Access law, students had formed a Gay Straight Alliance Club in the school. They held a "Day of Silence" presumably on the National Day of Silence held in over on 2003-APR-9. AgapePress is a little skimpy on details. ₆ "Founded in 1996, the Day of Silence Project has become the largest single student-led action towards creating safer schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression." ₇ Students who support equal rights for persons of all sexual orientations in over 1,900 middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities across the U.S.  Participating students do not speak during this day. Some hand out "speaking cards" stating: "I am participating in the 'Day of Silence,' a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice and discrimination." ₆ According to AgapePress, "The club was permitted to advertise the event through posters, literature, and on the school intercom." This, of course, is required by the Equal Access act.  "The school even provided them with a 'safe room' to sit in if they felt they were being harassed during the day." It is fairly common for the verbal and physical harassment of homosexual and bisexual students -- and their supporters -- to reach a peak on this day. In response to the Day of Silence a group of Christian students -- presumably conservative Christians -- prayed and shared Bible verses in the school commons during classroom time. They were given unexcused absences, despite having permission slips from their parents, because they had skipped class. One of those Christian students, Justin Wallestad, expressed his disappointed that an entire day at his school was dedicated to promoting the acceptance of homosexuality, while past events organized by Christian students had been restricted. He said: "In the past they [presumably the administration] were putting [a stop] to some of the stuff that we wanted to do, such as 'See You at the Pole' and stuff like that -- they wouldn't allow us to put up posters. But when people come in with a Day of Silence for homosexuality, they [permit use of] the intercom. It was really frustrating, so we wanted to do something about it." Wallestad felt some of his classmates who participated in the Day of Silence were promoting immorality. He said: "The majority of these people who did participate are my friends because I want to be friends with a variety of people. So I actually did lose quite a few friends because of this."

Wallestad and other students plan to organize a "Christian Purity Day" which presumably promotes sexual abstinence. They plan to promote the event through posters, literature, and over the school intercom. If they take advantage of the Equal Access Law, and organize a conservative Christian student-run club, then they will have every right to fully advertise their cause on campus. If they remain unorganized, then they may well continue to experience restrictions from the administration. Whether they organize a club or not, they probably will not be allowed to skip classes.

Washington state: Student Bible club dispute:

Tausha Prince unsuccessfully attempted to form a "World Changers" Bible club at Spanaway Lake High School in Washington state. She filed a complaint against the school district and the State which asserted that the defendants were establishing a two-track system that discriminated against religious groups. By withholding recognition, the school denied her group financial support and access to various publicity methods, such as the public address system, school yearbook, etc. This was not the usual after-class extracurricular club. The high school reserves a time interval each school day during which students could choose to receiving special instruction, attend assemblies, attend meetings of school-approved clubs, or do homework. The case, Prince v. Jacoby, was dismissed at a lower court level, but upheld by the U.S. 9^th Circuit Court. The latter ruled that the club should be given parity with other student associations and permitted access to school space and supplies.

On 2003-OCT-6, at the reopening of the U.S. Supreme Court after the summer recess, the Justices announced that they would not hear a challenge to Prince v. Jacoby. The Circuit Court decision thus stands as a precedence for future cases. ₈

References:

1. The text of the Equal Access Act is at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/
2. "Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens," 1990-JUN-4. 496 U.S. 226 (1990) (USSC+). The decision is available at: http://supct.law.cornell.edu/ and at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ 
3. J. Mooney, "Research/Term Paper Topics," at: http://www.etsu.edu/ 
4. "How the club was formed," concerning the organization of an Atheist club, at:http://idt.net/
5. S.E. Ericsson, Curriculum Vitae, at: http://advocatesinternational.org/
6. Jim Brown, "Christian Students Punished for Countering Pro-Homosexual Observance." AgapePress, 2003-APR-15, at: http://headlines.agapepress.org/
7. "Day of Silence 2003," GLSEN, at: http://www.dayofsilence.org/
8. "Supreme Court to look at divinity training subsidies..." AANews, 2003-OCT-11.

Further information on the Act can be obtained from:

Copyright © 2000 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-FEB-10
Latest update: 2007-MAR-22
Author: B.A. Robinson