Tavares – The American Civil Liberties Union wants to continue a lawsuit fighting for a Gay-Straight Alliance at Carver Middle School in Lake County.
On Aug. 19, U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges dismissed the lawsuit. The new brief, filed Oct. 27, asks the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to review that decision, arguing that the federal Equal Access Act, which guarantees certain rights to students in secondary schools, should apply to the students who want to establish a GSA at Carver Middle School.
“In the absence of any clear statement from the legislature that middle schools do not provide secondary education, because the Equal Access Act is a remedial statute, it must be construed broadly to embrace middle schools in Florida,” the brief reads, countering arguments that the Equal Access Act only applies to high schools.
The brief also requests oral arguments in the case.
“GSAs exist in middle schools across the country, including in Florida, and students at Carver have the right to establish one,” says Daniel Tilley, ACLU of Florida Staff for LGBT Rights, in a media release. “These young people are determined to make their school a safer and more welcoming place, and we will continue to stand by their side in that effort.”
The lawsuit was filed in December on behalf of students trying to form the GSA.
This is the second lawsuit for a GSA at Carver Middle School. In 2012, then-14-year-old Bayli Silberstein requested permission to start a GSA at her school. After months of legal wrangling and school board meeting debates, a judge granted Silberstein permission to form the club for the remainder of her eighth grade year, which ended in the summer of 2013. That settlement has expired, Bayli has moved onto high school and now, the GSA no longer meets at Carver Middle School.
In the meantime, the Lake County School District is attempting to recoup around $7,000 in legal fees related to the case.
