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Students, Backed by ACLU, Head to Trial in Lake County (Florida) Gay-Straight Alliance Case

Florida drawn in chalk on green school chalkboard
Bill Mathias Official Photo
School Board Member Bill Mathias finds it “odd” that I write about Lake County, since he is “sure there is injustice in [my] part of the world.“
The long-running dispute over the right of students to form a gay-straight alliance (GSA) at Carver Middle School in Lake County, Florida, is headed to trial in federal court this week before a Nixon-appointed judge, the Honorable William Terrell Hodges. For some background on the saga, check out the short local news video and the list of earlier Youth Allies posts (below).

It’s certainly frustrating that the school board, after all this time, is still fighting this club. (Some readers may recall that one Lake County School Board member told me in a ridiculous email almost two years ago that the board had “not blocked the GSA.” That statement, evidently, was false. Around the same time, another school board member inappropriately questioned a middle school student’s sexual orientation in an email to blogger Katy Bourne.)

Nevertheless, I am inspired by the tenacity and courage of the students, their families, their attorneys, and their many other allies. I wish them much luck (though they shouldn’t need it) as they continue their work to overcome the misunderstandings, misinformation, unfounded fears, hostility, and bias that have run rampant in Lake County over this issue. Click here or on ‘Read More’ to view the full post.

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Struggling? Need Help? You’re Not Alone – Reach Out!

Cartoon images of person with phone headset and word 'Support'

After seeing the widespread news coverage of Leelah Alcorn’s tragic death, I updated this site’s resources page for suicide prevention.

The updated page, available here, has links to resources from the Trevor Project, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and other organizations; it also lists ways to seek support by phone. (La página incluye información en español también.)

For information on Leela Alcorn’s story, check out this post from the Human Rights Campaign, this story from CNN.com, and this blog post on Slate.