Flour Bluffs Independent School District In Corpus Christi Texas So Homophobic It Would Rather Punish A Christian Student Athlete Group Than Allow The Formation Of A Gay-Straight Alliance

Flour Bluffs Independent School District in Corpus Christi, Texas, will not allow the proposed Gay-Straight alliance, but the proposal prompted the district to revisit a decision to allow the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to meet on campus, the Corpus Christi Caller Times reports, the district apparently so determined not to allow a gay and lesbian student support group organize that they are prepared to punish everyone. Superintendent Julie Carbajal said she has asked the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to meet off campus while the district studies the legality of allowing the club while disallowing a club supporting homosexual students. She said there is no chance the district will approve the proposed Gay-Straight Alliance, but she will make sure all other school clubs are following the district’s policy, saying “We need to be fair and equitable to all.” In disallowing the Gay-Straight Alliance, the district said it didn’t have to follow a federal law mandating schools offer equal opportunities for all students to organize. The district approved a policy in 2005 that did not allow student clubs not tied to curriculum to meet on campus. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which has been meeting on campus, may not be adhering to that policy, Carbajal said, adding that the district is consulting with its attorneys on the matter. “We feel like we need to follow the policy in place,” she said. “If we’ve made any wrong judgments then we have to fix that because we are not looking at changing our policy.” Carbajal’s decision to disallow any non-curriculum clubs from meeting on campus may stop a local gay activist from protesting next week. “They’d rather get rid of all organizations rather than to allow this one to start? Wow,” said Paul Rodriguez, president of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. “If she’s not going to allow any other clubs on campus then we have no ground to stand on.” The superintendent’s decision arrives after Flour Bluff High School senior Bianca “Nikki” Peet’s proposed club garnered attention from such national organizations as the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and Change.org, which by Friday afternoon gathered 500 signatures on a petition asking the school’s administration to approve the club. Rodriguez had argued that denying Peet the chance to create a Gay-Straight Alliance violates the Equal Access Act, a law mandating that federally funded schools provide equal access to extracurricular clubs. The legislation, approved in 1984, was seen then as an attempt to protect Bible study and other religious groups, but the law has since been invoked by supporters of gay rights to protect the formation of Gay-Straight Alliances in schools. Rodriguez said he gave the district two options when he intervened on behalf of Peet who had unsuccessfully petitioned her principal to start a club. He said the district could approve Peet’s club or disallow other clubs not based in the curriculum. Carbajal said she respects the differing opinions on her decision but said she hopes people recognize she is going to be fair and equitable to all students.“We’re not going to do something that lets someone be able to have an advantage over anyone else,” she said. The American Civil Liberties Union said district policy does not trump any precedent it sets by allowing the creation of other clubs that do not have a direct connection to the school’s curriculum, and that if the district allows other non-curricular clubs to meet on campus, such as the chess club, it cannot discriminate against other non-curricular clubs, said Manuel Quinto-Pozos, staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Texas. “There is a very specific definition to a limited open forum,” Quinto-Pozos said. “It’s definitely triggered by what the school has done to non-curricular groups in the past and not tied to what the school states.” Among those supporting the superintendent’s decision, 18 year senior Ryan Claybourn, who said the proposed club to support homosexual students is a poor fit for Flour Bluff High School. “I don’t endorse it,” he said. “I think it’s out of place at a high school,” adding that all other clubs at the school are steeped in curriculum and promote learning and critical thinking while Peet’s proposed group would not be educational.