Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Fairness in Florida

CONGRATS for Fairness in Florida!

Federal Judge Rules That Students Can’t Be Barred From Expressing Support for Gay PeoplePrincipal Said Rainbows Are “Sexually Suggestive”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 13, 2008
CONTACT: Chris Hampton, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project, (212)549-2673 Alexandra Bassil, ACLU of Florida, (786) 363-2700 Paul Cates, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project, (212) 549-2568

PANAMA CITY, FL – After a two-day trial in which a Florida high schoolprincipal testified that he believed clothing or stickers featuringrainbows would make students automatically picture gay people having sex,a federal judge today ruled that the school violated students’ FirstAmendment rights of students. The case was brought by the American CivilLiberties Union on behalf of a junior at the school who had beenforbidden by her principal to wear any sort of clothing, stickers,buttons, or symbols to show her support of equal rights for gay people. “Standing up to my school was really hard to do, but I’m so happy that Idid because the First Amendment is a big deal to everyone,” said HeatherGillman, a junior at Ponce de Leon High School and the plaintiff in thecase. Judge Richard Smoak of the United States District Court, NorthernDistrict of Florida, Panama City Division, issued an order that forcesthe school to stop its unconstitutional censorship of students who wantto express their support for the fair and equal treatment of gay people. The judge also warned the district not to retaliate against students overthe lawsuit. “Freedom of speech for every person and every idea is one of the bedrockprinciples on which America was founded,” said Christine Sun, a staffattorney with the ACLU national Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project.“Censorship reflects a deep lack of faith in the American system, and itteaches students exactly the wrong lesson on what America is about. Weare thrilled that the court in this case made the importance of students’First Amendment rights so completely clear.” The case came about after Heather Gillman and other students approachedthe ACLU about an atmosphere in which students say they were routinelyintimidated by school officials for things like writing “gay pride” ontheir arms and notebooks or wearing rainbow-themed clothing. Accordingto students, problems began in September of 2007 when a lesbian studenttried to report to school officials that she was being harassed by otherstudents because she is a lesbian. Instead of addressing the harassment,students say the school responded with intimidation, censorship, andsuspensions. That student testified on Monday, breaking down on thestand as she described the school’s indifference to the harassment sheexperienced. During the trial, which was held in Panama City yesterday and today,Ponce de Leon High School’s principal David Davis admitted under oaththat he had banned students from wearing any clothing or symbolssupporting equal rights for gay people. Davis also testified that hebelieved rainbows were “sexually suggestive” and would make studentsunable to study because they’d be picturing gay sex acts in their mind. The principal went on to admit that while censoring rainbows and gaypride messages he allowed students to wear other symbols many findcontroversial, such as the Confederate flag. “I am very pleased with the judge’s ruling to uphold the students’ rightto express their views on issues that are important to them,” saidBenjamin James Stevenson, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Florida. “This whole experience has been important civics lesson about exercisingour Bill of Rights.” Ponce de Leon High School is located halfway between Pensacola andTallahassee, in Florida’s panhandle. According to the school’s website,about 400 students are enrolled there. Heather Gillman is represented byStevenson and Robert Rosenwald of the ACLU of Florida, Sun of the ACLULesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project, and Garrard Beeney, MauraMiller, Meg Holzer, Megan Bradley, Tom Laughlin, and Vincent Liu ofSullivan & Cromwell, LLC. Gillman v. Holmes County School District, case no. 5:08-cv-34, was heardin the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Florida. A copyof the ACLU’s complaint as well as the earlier letter and the school’sresponse can be downloaded athttp://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/33859res20080131.html<http://www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/33859res20080131.html> . For more information on the ACLU’s LGBT advocacy work, visitwww.aclufl.org or www.aclu.org/lgbt.