Victory for Texas High School’s Gay-Straight Alliance!

From S.F. Gay Pride, 2008 (Image by Nerdcoregirl)

I recently wrote about Bianca “Nikki” Peet’s attempt to form a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at her high school in Corpus Christi, Texas. The school had denied her request and even went so far as to ban ALL extracurricular clubs (so as to appear nondiscriminatory). The school district faced a lawsuit by the ACLU and the Anti-Defamation League, as well as a petition by Change.Org. There had also been protests in support by local university students.

Last week, the school board reversed its decision and will allow the GSA at Flour Bluff School, as well as all the other clubs that were banned. Here is an excerpt from the Change.org website.

By Shannon Cuttle, From Change.org

Last week, “. . .school board members in Corpus Christi, Texas reversed their decision to deny high school senior Bianca "Nikki" Peet's request to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at her school. Nikki Peet can now start a GSA and meet on campus. The long-term future of the club is still not certain, however, so our support is still needed.

The Flour Bluff Independent School District's board of trustees held a four-hour emergency meeting last night at the administration building in Corpus Christi to talk about the legal consequences of denying a gay-straight alliance on campus. Their discriminatory decision to block a GSA had been threatened with litigation by American Civil Liberties Union and the Anti- Defamation League, and had become a national phenomenon: more than 55,000 supporters signed a petition at Change.org on behalf of Peet and supporters held an all-day rally last Friday at Flour Bluff High.”