In Washington State, the legislature passed a bill, awaiting the governor's signature, that requires the state superintendent of public schools to develop a family preservation curriculum that school districts will be urged to use as a model, the Los Angeles Times reported. Supporters say the classes would teach high school students how to form and maintain loving relationships, among other things. Opponents say the measure could push schools to idealize a traditional 'Beaver Cleaver' nuclear family that would marginalize others, such as same-sex couples, single parents, and blended families.
In Connecticut, four high school students were sent home after they wore T-shirts bearing anti-gay slogans to school, causing a series of disturbances as other students became 'emotionally distraught,' students and school officials said. The Journal Inquirer reported that the boys, who wore white T-shirts on which they had written, 'Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve,' say their constitutional right to free speech has been violated.
In California, a gay biology professor at Solano Community College who is also HIV-positive filed a lawsuit accusing the institution of homophobic harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, 365Gay.com reported. The suit, filed by Gene Thomas, names the school's president, Paulette Perfumo, and five other administrators as defendants. Thomas is seeking unspecified damages, alleging humiliation, embarrassment, and anxiety.
A federal judge threw out many arguments by a conservative Christian group seeking to be reinstated as a student organization despite University of California Hastings College of the Law policies that forbid discriminating against gays, the San Franicsco Examiner reported. However, several First Amendment issues appear headed toward litigation.