Does the right of association under the Constitution extend to lesbian and gay student organizations at state-supported colleges and universities?

Yes. The right of freedom of association clearly extends to student organizations at state-supported institutions. 18 Federal courts have explicitly applied this right to lesbian and gay organizations at state-supported schools.19 Official school recognition of gay organizations cannot be withheld by officials at state-supported schools merely because they do not approve of the organization. However, school officials may evaluate any student organization based on neutral factors such as the failure or refusal to abide by reasonable administrative rules and whether the organization or its members have violated state laws at functions sponsored by the organization.20

To what school benefits are such lesbian and gay organizations entitled?

The same benefits as any other officially recognized student organization. The benefits typically include the use of campus facilities for meetings and other appropriate purposes, including dances and other social events, and the right to use school media for the expression of ideas to the school community.21 In addition, where a university has a system of funding student activities, a lesbian and gay student organization is entitled to funding on the same basis as all other groups.22

Does the freedom of association for gay students and gay student organizations extend to public high schools?

Yes. High school students, like college students, have a presumptive right to freedom of association and freedom of speech that is protected under the Constitution. Students have a right to exercise their freedom of expression on any issue, however controversial, so long as their expression does not

"materially and substantially" disrupt the work and discipline of the school. 23 As a practical matter, the younger the student, the greater the authority courts will grant to school administrators to regulate student activities that function as part of the school's curriculum and speech that might be considered "disruptive."24

If a high school allows noncurricular clubs, must it also allow a lesbian and gay rights group?

Yes. In addition to the constitutionally based free speech claim that such a group would have, a federal law passed in 1984 prohibits a public high school that already allows noncurriculum related student groups to meet on school premises from discriminating against other students who wish to have meetings based on the "religious, political, philosophical or other content" of their speech.25 The law covers public high schools that receive federal funds.

Can a public high school forbid participation by openly gay students in general student activities?

Presumptively not, although the law is undeveloped. In the only case on this question, a federal district court judge ruled that a gay male high school student in Rhode Island was entitled to take another male to the school prom as his date. The court accepted his argument that the proposed conduct constituted "symbolic speech" under the First Amendment and ordered the principal to permit the student and his date to attend.26 In reaching this decision, the court upheld the principle that lesbian and gay students are entitled to the same benefits and access to student activities as other students.

Does the constitutional guarantee of the right of association extend to protect organizations at private schools?

No. The constitutional protection against interference with freedom of association applies only to public school systems and state-supported colleges and universities. The Constitution protects against action by the government (federal, state, or local), not against the actions of private organizations.

Are there any antidiscrimination laws that apply to private schools and colleges?

Yes. There are statutes that provide protection against discriminationlisting of such laws.) In addition, a number of colleges and universities, both public and private, have adopted antidiscrimination policies that include sexual orientation as a prohibited basis for differential treatment. Students can seek to force the university to adhere to its own institutional policy.

Can a lesbian or gay public school teacher be dismissed or transferred to nonteaching duties for speaking about gay issues in public, outside the classroom?

Presumptively not. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling of a federal appeals court that an Oklahoma law that mandated firing school employees for "advocating" homosexuality was unconstitutional because its scope was so broad that a teacher could have been fired for making a speech outside the classroom advocating a change in the law. 27 Another federal appeals court held that the transfer of a gay teacher to nonteaching duties could not be sustained on the grounds that he appeared on television and made public statements in support of equal treatment for lesbians and gay men.28 A similar case involving a college teacher who was fired after being quoted in several newspaper articles about gay rights also led to a victory for the teacher.29

The general legal standard is that while a teacher's right to freedom of speech may be balanced against the importance the state attaches to the education of its youth, a teacher's comments on public issues that are neither knowingly false nor made with reckless disregard of the truth afford no ground for dismissal when they do not impair the teacher's performance of his or her duties or interfere with the operation of the school.30