Pennsylvania School Board Says No to Gay-Straight Alliance

Students from Chamberbsburg Area Senior High School are threatening legal action after school board members voted to deny their request to create a gay-straight alliance (GSA) in their school. According to LGBTQ Nation, during this week’s voting session, board members voted 5-4 against the GSA, even after hearing legit arguments from supporters about why it would benefit the school’s gay youth.

Matthew Basillo, an advisor who planned to mentor the new club told board members that, “Students need a place to talk safely … They need a place to feel safe, dispel myths, grow and prosper,” because LGBTQ youth “often do not have anyone outside of school who understands them and supports them.”

In the article, LGBTQ Nation cites the 1984 Federal Equal Access Act, which “requires secondary schools to allow a variety of student-run religious and non-religious voluntary clubs that meet during “non-instructional” time.” It’s because of this that the GSA’s intended president, Amber Fogelsonger, is confident they’ll have winning court case. She commented after the vote that, “We’re going to take legal action, because [the board] cannot technically deny us … If there are three other clubs in school that are not school-related, they cannot by law deny our club.”

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