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The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020
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"The Actual or Perceived GLBT Student Protection Project"
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ADVOCATE, February 23, 2000
525 Lafayette St., Baton Rouge, LA, 70821
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( http://www.theadvocate.com )

36 McKinley students suspended in protest

By Advocate staff report

Thirty-six McKinley High School students were suspended Tuesday for their roles in a protest against the formation of a Gay Straight Alliance club at the school.

Public schools spokeswoman Julie Madere said all of the students were given three-day suspensions and can return to McKinley on Monday.

The protest, on Friday, started as the first bell rang and sprung up again a couple times throughout the day. Students first gathered in front of the main school building waving signs and chanting against the club. Later, students raised their signs again and some ran through the hallways banging on lockers and doors.

An application by the Gay Straight Alliance to use school facilities for club meetings is pending with the principal, Almenia Freeman Warren. She could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Madere said the student protesters were disciplined for causing a "minor school disruption," which carries a penalty of a two- to nine-day suspension.

They were disciplined because the protest disrupted classes, she said.

"If it had been before or after school, there would not have been repercussions," she said.

The suspended students each will be assigned to a discipline center, where they can continue with their school work, she said. Those who attend the discipline centers won't have the suspension on their permanent record, she said.

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