WEST BEND, Wis. – The West Bend School Board has changed course and has sanctioned the Gay-Straight Alliance, but only if the club drops its federal lawsuit.
The vote last week was 4-3 to recognize the alliance as a school club. That allows it to hold fundraisers, have a spot in the yearbook and put up a bulletin board. The meeting drew passionate supporters on both sides of the issue. Supporter Joy Schroeder told the board the alliance members “deserve to have a safe place to go where they are not only tolerated, but accepted.”
Two alliance members filed a federal lawsuit last month after the school board failed to recognize the club. Their attorney, Waring Fincke told WTMJ-TV, a Wisconsin television station, that the lawsuit was about equality and following the law, not about any monetary gain.
