TN Schools Ends Censorship of GLBT Web Sites
RSSBy Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 06/05/2009
Access to online information about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) issues has been restored to dozens of Tennessee schools.
The move comes just weeks after a school librarian, three high school students, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against two Tennessee school districts for unconstitutionally blocking student access to such sites.
On Wednesday evening, Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre released a statement saying that Education Networks of America (ENA) was no longer blocking the GLBT category on school computers. ENA provides the filtering software to 107 Tennessee school districts and, until now, its default setting blocked access to sites such as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
The ACLU says the change is in effect in all Tennessee districts that use the ENA software, and the company’s Web site shows that it made a similar change for schools throughout the state of Indiana.
"All we ever wanted was to be able to get information out about LGBT issues, like what our legal rights are or what scholarships are available for LGBT students, so I'm really happy that the schools are finally making our
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Knoxville high school librarian Karyn Storts-Brinks is a plaintiff in the case. |
The ACLU on May 19 filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and Knox County Schools on behalf of Shelton, Nashville students Keila Franks and Emily Logan, and Karyn Storts-Brinks, a Knoxville high school librarian and faculty sponsor for her school's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA).Storts-Brinks had unsuccessfully tried since August 2007 to have ENA or her district to unblock the sites.
About 80 percent of Tennessee public schools, including those in the two districts being sued, use filtering software provided by Education Networks of America (ENA). At the same time, the filter permitted access to Web sites that urge GLBT persons to change their sexual orientation or gender identity through so-called "reparative therapy" or "ex-gay" ministries—a practice denounced as dangerous and harmful to young people by such groups as the American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association.
"Up until now, these schools were practicing unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, plain and simple. It was keeping students from accessing information about everything from their legal rights to statistics they needed for current events assignments," says Catherine Crump, staff attorney with the ACLU First Amendment Working Group and lead attorney on the case. "We're pleased that these schools are finally living up to their legal obligation to allow the free and open exchange of ideas and information."
Tricia Herzfeld, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Tennessee says the organization isn’t dropping the lawsuit right away. “But we certainly look forward to getting assurances from both school boards in this case that they will respect students' rights and refrain from this sort of censorship in the future.”
