Summary of the Case

The East High Gay/Straight Alliance, a student organization, was denied permission to meet on school premises under a policy excluding non-curriculum related groups from school facilities. The Alliance challenged this decision under the federal Equal Access Act, a statute prohibiting schools that provide limited open forums on campus from discriminating on the basis of content against students who wish to conduct meetings on school property.  

Our Role in the Case

In March 2000, Legal Momentum joined an amicus brief submitted to the United States District Court for the Tenth Circuit, prepared by Arnold and Porter for several civil rights organizations on behalf of the East High Gay/Straight Alliance. The brief argued that policies like that adopted by East High often result in the exclusion of student groups for female and minority students and that the standard for determining whether a school has properly designated a student group as curricular or non-curricular must be strict.