New Mexico school bans all clubs after gay-straight alliance forms

[The Philosopher]

from Pink News

A school board in New Mexico has voted to ban all school clubs after a gay-straight alliance applied for recognition.

Officials on the Clovis school board said the ban was a coincidence but the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) questioned the timing.

The alliance was approved by the principal last month who apparently did not realise that the district superintendent must approve new clubs.

District superintendent Terry Myers told the Albuquerque Journal that the gay-straight alliance’s application did not trigger the ban.

...

Micah McCoy, of the ACLU of New Mexico, told Reuters: “This sort of tactic has been used in the past by school districts to discourage gay-straight clubs from forming. A lot of alarm bells went off when we saw this.”

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/04/28/new-mexico-school-bans-all-clubs-after-gay-straight-alliance-forms/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Pinknews+%28Pink+News%29">Click Here To Read More

[marmar]

1. "Officials on the Clovis school board said the ban was a coincidence"

And the Clovis school board has some swampland they'd like to sell us.

[Zorra]

5. Yeah - great role models for kids, huh?

Not only are they bigots, but they are obvious liars too.

[Billy Burnett]

2. Pathetic. 2011 and still in the dark ages.

:mad:

[sakabatou]

3. A coincidence? Ya right...

[louslobbs]

4. Sure, why would "Officials" on the Clovis school board lie? This was just a coincidence, nothing to

see here folks, move along now with your day. Approving a "new" club, especially if it is a club with the name "gay" in it, would never trigger a ban, I mean, where has that ever happened before? No "officials" of a school board would ever be homophobic after all, aren't many members of these school boards Christians? And Christians are loving and caring and good. They care for the homeless and poor and help the suffering. This couldn't have been a tactic to discourage gay-straight clubs from forming, that is just unthinkable in this wonderful, loving, accepting and tolerant America.......Total Sarcasm as if you didn't know. Go ahead school boards and faculty, keep hate and division in our schools alive and well New Mexico, teach your young people to hate others not like them and watch the continued destruction of this country.
Lou

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. I am curious just how wide the impact is going to be and the rationale given

Does it impact sports teams like football and baseball? What about the Debate and Chess teams (assuming they have them)? Was the reason cited cost, liability or something else? The article does not say and I am quite curious what possible explanation they would have for such blatant discrimination.

[dsc]

8. No on sports

and probably no on debate and chess though that would vary by district. Sports teams are offical extra curriculars and not clubs. The debate and chess might well be clubs.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. Any clue to the official rationale in this case?

I really want to see what reason they could possible cite and it not be discriminatory

[dsc]

10. I would bet they are willing to say they are discriminating

I think they probably can do it. It is an all or nothing deal though. Either you let all clubs in or you let no clubs in.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. The comeback will have to be from the other groups that are now canceled

If the board remains resolute, there will be a anti Gay/anti GSA backlash blaming them for the loss of the Chess, Debate, and other groups. Seen it before.

Still looking for the reasoning to cancel all clubs...it will have to be a real doozie.

[dsc]

12. I am not sure they will have to give one

I could be wrong since NM has at least some form of lgbt protections but I think that if they close all clubs, no matter what reason they use to do so, they can skate federally.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. If it was a board action, I would expect a public vote and some discussion

If the superintendent did it on his own, perhaps not.

[dsc]

14. I meant legally

I am presuming that the community agrees with them on this, or at least they think the community does.

[pnwmom]

7. They should immediately form a club that meets after school.

Since the ban apparently applies only to clubs meeting during school hours.

[thanks_imjustlurking]

15. ? Why would clubs meet during school hours anyway?

School hours are for school. Guess I better go read the link in the OP.....

The school board voted to ban any extra-curricular school group from using school premises during school hours. The ban also means that groups cannot use school resources.

I understand the first sentence, and am surprised they're just getting around to that - I would have thought it would go without saying.

Does the second sentence mean a club can't use a classroom to meet *after* school? The whole thing seems screwy to me.

[The Philosopher]

16. Schools are different from each other

But at the one I went to, we had a 20 minute period for everyone that they could use for different reasons, from catching up on homework, to tutoring, to group meetings. This was early in the day for us, so it was during school hours, not an after-school thing.

I assume if the school reported here didn't have time like the above for clubs, they'd still withhold support because after school meetings would still have to be approved by the school and it would be on school property. The school would be forcing everyone to meet on their own time and resources and not everyone can meet that. During school hours, or right after school, gives everyone the best chance to be a part of a club or activity.

[thanks_imjustlurking]

17. Ah, I see.

I have never been a student at or worked at a school that has an activity period such as you describe. If such exists, it certainly should be open to everyone.

[The Philosopher]

18. There's always the option

to also meet during lunch. I went to a small school, so a bunch of us were able to leave the cafeteria and go sit with a teacher in their office and have a nice talk. If we had been more enterprising, I don't know why we couldn't have spent that time doing a club activity. Of course, I imagine larger schools (or even schools for these kids nowadays) treat lunch time like a lock down. You are where you need to be and nowhere else, so this might be a little hard. But I would enjoy it, because that's what I experienced when I was in high school.

[RetiredTrotskyite]

19. I Swear, These People Would Rather Forbid EVERY Club...

rather than let GLBT kids and straight kids have a place to build bridges. I suspect the really hateful ones know that there will be students who will hassle the GLBT kids, blaming them for the loss of their clubs.

[RKP5637]

20. We often live in "The Age of Stupidity." n/t