TEXAS: School District Bans All Clubs In Order To Block Gay-Straight Alliance

A school district in Corpus Christi, Texas has banned all extracurricular clubs rather than allow the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance Club. Change.org reports:

Flour Bluff Intermediate School District’s move comes after its high school gained national attention by blocking senior Bianca “Nikki” Peet’s request to start a GSA. Hundreds of people have emailed the district on behalf of Peet through a Change.org petition, which was also linked to by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Texas A&M’s GSA, which has been advocating for Peet, had called for a protest Monday, Feburary 28, 2011. But Flour Bluff ISD Superintendent Julie Carbajal, in comments to The Daily Caller on Friday, said that there is no chance that district will approve the purposed Gay-Straight Alliance. She also has requested that the student group Fellowship of Christian Athletes meet off campus until they can determine if they are adhering to the 2005 school policy that only student groups tied to curricula are allowed.

The school district claims they are not obligated to adhere to the federal Equal Access Law, which stipulates that schools must provide “fair opportunities for students to form student-led extracurricular groups, regardless of their religious, political and philosophical leanings.”