Awhile back a group of friends and I started up a GSA at our school. We kept going for awhile and generated a good amount of attending students. We really enjoyed and I enjoyed helping people by providing a safe place where they could be themselves. However, one of the attending students parents happened to be homophobic... So once they had caught wind of there daughter going to our GSA club the parent sent an email to the principal in anger asking why there daughter was attending such a club. The principal immediately shut down the club saying he had never approved of it, and that there were no documents relating to it.:tantrum: Here is where things get fun. We had the idea for the club in September, it was then we began drafting up the paperwork on google drive so that we would have an organized club. Next, we found an LGBT+ friendly ally teacher to be our club sponsor, after we had found our sponsor we turned in the paperwork explaining what the purpose was and how it was to be run so that the principal could look over it. Two months later he passes the club onto an assistant principal to approve, she supported the idea and approved of it immediately.(also two or three other clubs had been approved and started meeting during this point). She approves it and asks for one last thing. Our mission statement, the purpose of us actually meeting. We turn that in and all of the founding members rejoice. Two months of nervousness and anxiety payed off. Its around November/December that the club kicked off and we began getting members. I mentioned this in the other paragraph. Than the principal shuts us down saying he had never seen any papers for it and never approved it. This is January/ February by the way, the giant two month waiting period was for him to look over the papers and give us the "OK" and he shuts us down because of one parent email. Sorry about this I just needed somewhere to put this because i wanted some other people opinions on it. I've started making a petition, but than found something better. The Equal Access Act. However, I've been told I shouldn't be the one talking directly to the admin because they wont treat me with respect. So I plan on showing the Act to the assistant principal to help support us. I don't plan on starting it back up this year due to time, but will make very strong pushes next year. Lastly does anyone have any other ideas that may help in this situation? Any will be taken into consideration I want to be able to get this GSA back up because we were helping people, and it was one of the most enjoyable things I've done. So if you read this sorry for it being long, and thank you for your time.
How water tight was this prior documentation? If the club was approved through appropriate channels and that's provable, my recommendation would be to involve the ACLU of Tennessee.
Thanks. I'm going to take a look at the paperwork some more and get in touch with our assistant principal. I want to touch all the bases before I notify the ACLU.
Title 9 would say a lot about this.... Second of all I would not want to have your principal as my administrator and evaluator. I'm sorry you have to deal with this. Any educator who genuinely cares for their students would support you. Obviously this guy doesn't put students first.
Geeze I'm so sorry to hear it's funny, on Sunday I'm going to do a run which helps fund GSAs in my city and we have the strongest support for GSAs anywhere in Canada. 5 years ago The Ontario government passed a law stating any school in which a student wanted to found a GSA, the school was legally responsible to hold one. Such a shame that your state (does any state or other Canadian province for that matter?) doesn't have the same protections. It sounds to me the school should support your club and the ACLU might be the appropriate group to contact about this. If you went through the correct channels to make this club happen, it ought not to be shut down. GSAs are necessary thing in schools to assist LGBT students and their allies in helping all of us gain important knowledge pertaining to be lgbt that is often not taught in classrooms, as well as providing a support network which can aid students and sometimes PREVENT SUICIDES.
Well that is hard, and I know it. I have two teachers who are helping me get an LGBT+ club started up and we have already been turned down once. But now I know we are getting a club done, just don't really know what form it is going to take place in. I don't know who it would be best to contact since I don't live in America but like the others have said I think the ACLU should be able to help, and any other local LGBT+ groups that are local to you. And also you might want to get the police involved. Yes I know it sounds strange but they will be able to push your case forward even more.
Tennessee is pretty backwards in many ways (they recently tried to pass a law making the Bible the "official book", which fortunately got vetoed.) The fact that the GSA was approved by the assistant principal is pretty key here. Do you have any documentation in writing showing that it was approved? That will definitely help. You just have to hope your assistant principal won't cave and claim it was never approved or something. It is better if there's a parent or teacher that will speak up. I think if the principal knows that you're ready to file a complaint with the school board and the ACLU, and there's an adult involved, most likely he'll back down. He sounds like someone who is just trying to avoid conflict and hoping that a bunch of kids won't know better. So... you just need to prove him wrong
Unfortunately one of the things to understand is that principals are not looking out for your safety or even your education. They are deeply cynical, and they look out for their own positions. They serve at the pleasure of the school district Board of Trustees. Positions on the Board are elected. It may be a round-about sort of a way, but that means principals respond not to the needs of their students, but political pressure. Parents, not children, are their "primary customers." When he got that letter, he responded out of fear--fear that other parents would hold him accountable, fear that he would have to answer to the Board of Trustees, fear that he would lose his position. And now, out of fear, he's made things worse for himself and violated your civil rights. The ACLU has been playing this game for a long time, and they've brought many school districts to heel. Good luck.
a real bummer that you prinicpal is such an asshole. Maybe take it higherup? Whenever my school did something weird and stupid, he would threaten them by taking it to the news. this would ruin their "perfect" reputation. that always worked for us
Thanks for all the help. I'm going to see about written documentation for the GSA, then notify the AP about the equal access act, then if that doesn't work I'll notify the ACLU and I'll see what happens after those.