Tennessee schools block LGBT info sites, not ‘ex-gay’ sites

[ccharles000]

(Nashville, Tennessee) As many as 107 Tennessee public school districts could be illegally preventing students from accessing online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, according to a letter to sent to school officials by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The letter demands that Knox County Schools, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and the Tennessee Schools Cooperative unblock the Internet filtering category designated “LGBT” so that students can access political and educational information about LGBT issues on school computers.

“When I found out about this web filtering software, I wasn’t looking for anything sexual or inappropriate – I was looking for information about scholarships for LGBT students, and I couldn’t get to it because of this software,” said Andrew Emitt, a 17-year-old senior at Central High School in Knoxville, in a statement released by the ACLU.

“Our schools shouldn’t be keeping students in the dark about LGBT organizations and resources,” Emitt said.

In its letter, the ACLU gives the districts and the Tennessee Schools Cooperative until April 29 to come up with a plan to restore access to the LGBT sites or any other category that blocks non-sexual websites advocating the fair treatment of LGBT people by the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.

If that deadline is not met, the ACLU will file a lawsuit, the letter warned.

“Students at Knox County and Metro Nashville schools are being denied access to content that is protected speech under the First Amendment as well as the Tennessee state constitution,” said Tricia Herzfeld, Staff Attorney with the ACLU of Tennessee.

http://www.365gay.com/news/tennessee-schools-block-lgbt-info-sites-not-ex-gay-sites/

[sarcasmo]

1. The homophobia in this country continues to shock me.

[ccharles000]

3. yup

[doctor jazz]

2. Well, it -is- where Scopes was prosecuted for teaching biology 80 years ago.

:shrug:

[ccharles000]

4. kick