From: SARATOGANY@aol.com
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 12:50:25 EST
Subject: CA: Judge says GSA group stays in Visalia Unified suit

Message from:
The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020
Email to: SARATOGANY@aol.com
The Real or Perceived Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Student Protection Project

SUPPORT.......NYS Legislation..The Dignity for All Students Act of 2001

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Fresno Bee, March 20, 2001
1626 E Street, Fresno, CA, 93789
(Fax: 209-441-6499 ) (E-Mail: letters@fresnobee.com )
( http://www.fresnobee.com/ )
http://www.fresnobee.com/localnews/story/0,1724,250222,00.html

Gay group stays in Visalia Unified suit

By Jerry Bier, The Fresno Bee

George Loomis won a legal skirmish Monday in his lawsuit against the Visalia Unified School District over allegations that he was discriminated against in high school because he is gay.

Loomis, 19, now a freshman at California State University, Fresno, sat quietly at the counsel table as lawyers argued motions before U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger.

The judge indicated he would deny a motion by the school district to dismiss the Gay-Straight Alliance Network as a plaintiff in the case.

The alliance, based in San Francisco, joined the lawsuit on behalf of Loomis, a former student at Golden West High School in Visalia.

John L. Rozier, a lawyer representing the school district, argued the alliance should not be allowed to become a part of the lawsuit because it "came from out of nowhere" with "vague, generalized claims."

Rozier said the organization had not shown that it could not form a club on Visalia high school campuses or that it had been discriminated against.

Kathleen Morris, a lawyer representing Loomis and the alliance, said the question of whether the alliance attempted to form a club on the campus "is a nonissue."

She said the organization has members on the Golden West campus "who on a daily basis suffer discrimination" and that it is the students who form the individual clubs at school, while the alliance provides resources and information to help the members gain acceptance.

Loomis, who said he suffered taunts and other abuses while in high school, is seeking policy changes and an undetermined amount of money because the district failed to stop the alleged harassment by students and Spanish teacher Juan Garcia while Loomis attended Golden West.

The harassment allegedly occurred between 1998 and 2000. The American Civil Liberties Union and a San Francisco law firm are representing Loomis in the case.

· The reporter can be reached at jbier@fresnobee.com or 441-6484.
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PRIMER WEBSITES

GLSEN --- Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network
www.glsen.org
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
www.lambdalegal.org
Safe Schools Coalition of Washington
www.safeschools-wa.org
The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project Home Page
www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
www.pflag.org
Empire State (NY) Pride Agenda
www.prideagenda.org
GLAAD
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
www.glaad.org
Unity Through Diversity (Long Island)
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Castro/3212/
LIGALY Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth
http://www.ligaly.com/

"The Real or Perceived Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgendered Student Protection Project"
("Being safe at school should not be a radical concept".. Jamie Nabozny)

A project of:
Coalition for Safer Schools of New York State

John Myers
Director of Operations and Programs
PO Box 2345
Malta, NY 12020
(518) 587-0176

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