Today the National Center for Lesbian Rights announced that they
paired with the Southern Poverty Law Center and Faegre &
Benson, LLP to file a federal civil law suit against the
Anoka-Hennepin School District and Champlin Park High School. Two
female students were elected by their classmates to serve as
“royalty” during the school’s annual Snow Days winter event.
Traditionally, the student representatives would walk into the
event in pairs, holding hands with a student of the opposite sex.
If a boyfriend and girlfriend are elected as “royalty,” the
school has allowed them to walk together. When the two female
students said that they wanted to walk as a couple however, school
officials canceled this part of the event rather than allow them
walk together.
paired with the Southern Poverty Law Center and Faegre &
Benson, LLP to file a federal civil law suit against the
Anoka-Hennepin School District and Champlin Park High School. Two
female students were elected by their classmates to serve as
“royalty” during the school’s annual Snow Days winter event.
Traditionally, the student representatives would walk into the
event in pairs, holding hands with a student of the opposite sex.
If a boyfriend and girlfriend are elected as “royalty,” the
school has allowed them to walk together. When the two female
students said that they wanted to walk as a couple however, school
officials canceled this part of the event rather than allow them
walk together.
The suit alleges violations of the students’ rights under the
First and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution, the
Minnesota Constitution, and the Minnesota Human Rights Act. The
Minnesota Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination against
students on the basis of sexual orientation, but Minnesota schools
have been the center of national attention during the past year for
reports of extreme bullying and harassment, leading some children
to suicide.
For more information on the suit, please see the press release at
www.nclr.org.