On July 24, 2008 a Florida judge ruled in favor of LGBT ally Heather Gillman who had sued the Holmes County, FL School Board for banning pro-gay rights expression at the Ponce de Leon High School in Panama City, FL where she attended. Judge Smoak also awarded all of Gillman’s $300,000 in attorney fees to the school board as punishment for what has been described as a “witch hunt” at the high school.

In September of 2007, a 12th grade student identified as “Jane Doe” reported to a teacher’s aid at Ponce de Leon High School that she was being harassed by five other students because of her sexual orientation. The aid then reported the situation to Principal David Davis who quickly called Jane into his office and interrogated her about the teasing and her sexual orientation. He then said that she had no “right” to be homosexual and asked if her parents knew. When Jane said that she had not come out to her parents, Principal Davis called them and told them. Jane’s father then threatened to kick her out of the house, a very scary reality for some lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth.

When other students began to vocalize their disagreement with Davis’ actions and began circulating petitions and making signs in support of Jane, Davis then interrogated 30 participating students about their sexual orientations. He then issued a ban on any pro-gay messages in the school. Over the next few days, Davis suspended 11 students, including Gillman’s lesbian cousin. Principal Davis also told the mother of one of the 11 students that he could secretly “send her [daughter] off to a private Christian school” or to juvenile detention and that “if there were a man in her house, and her children were in church, she wouldn’t be having any of these gay issues.”

When students complained to the School Board about Davis’ action, they backed up Davis which then sent LGBT ally and friend Gillman to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to see if they would take her case. After taking her case and in their search for evidence, the ACLU discovered that Davis is an Evangelical Christian with strong moral opposition to homosexuality and open gender expression. Davis also believed that is was fair for him to apply his moral beliefs through his work in a public school.

Under the First Amendment principles of the U.S. Constitution, high school students are within their rights to engage in speech that is not disruptive of academic or educational programs. Judge Smoak ruled that Davis’ suppression of free speech was a First Amendment violation, and that the principal himself “bears sole responsibility for any unrest that occurred at Ponce de Leon High School in September 2007.” This ruling is a huge victory for LGBT high school students and their allies like Heather across the country.

According to the ACLU and federal mandate, “teachers and other school officials do NOT have the right to ‘out’ you to anyone without your permission or use your sexual orientation to manipulate you in any way.” It is also every public school student’s constitutional right to be open and out about their sexual orientation or gender identity, in addition to expressing opinions related to sexual orientation or identity. According to the Equal Access Act, “public high schools that allow students to form non-curricular clubs must also allow students to start gay-straight alliances (GSAs).” Finally, public schools cannot forbid you from taking a same-sex date to prom as that would be an infringement on your right to freedom of expression.

If you are having problems at your school either with students or other teachers, check out the ACLU’s LBGT Youth and Schools program at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/index.html. This site tells you all about what is legal and illegal in terms of treatment in your school and also recommends ways to deal with harassment and unfair situations that might come up at school. You can also check out the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)’s “Students and GSAs” tab at www.glsen.org.