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in high schools across the nation. Administration in high schools who have opposed the formation of gay-straight alliances, and formally denied their organizers privileges and the right to assemble, found themselves being sued and caught in legal disputes. The State
Supreme Courts have always ruled
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club that meets outside of class time, it must allow additional such clubs to be organized, and must give them equal access to meeting spaces and school publications. Exceptions can be made for groups that "materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities
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to provide equal access to extracurricular student clubs. Lobbied for by
Christian groups who wanted to ensure students the right to conduct Bible study programs during lunch and after school, it is also essential in litigation regarding the right of students to form
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in favor of the gay-straight alliance, stating that the particular school must either allow the gay-straight alliance, or ban all non-curriculum groups from assembling on school property.
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At the college level, controversy arose over whether a university should pay for a publication by a religious student organization. The court ruled in
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and other secular groups have invoked the Act to stop public high schools from blocking students organizing secular student groups.
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that if the university pays for other student organization publications, it must also pay for religious organization publications.
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Already have a limited open forum, which means that at least one student-led, non-curriculum club that meets outside of class time
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The Act requires that if a school permits any religious student group, then it must allow groups focused on any religion or on
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466:"In Response to Mounting Violations, National Orgs Vow to Protect Atheist Students' Rights | Secular Student Alliance"
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All groups and/or clubs have equal access to meeting spaces, the PA system, school periodicals, bulletin board space, etc.
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Persons of the community that are not part of the school may not "direct, conduct, control, or regularly attend meetings"
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The Act provides that if a school receives federal aid and has a "limited open forum," or at least one student-led
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within the school," and a school can technically "opt out" of the act by prohibiting all non-curriculum clubs.
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Officials preserve and have the right to require all clubs and/or groups to follow a set of guidelines
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Group must guarantee aid to members who cannot afford to attend all related events and/or meetings
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Schools may limit meeting times and locations, only if the rules apply to all groups and/or clubs
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Schools may prohibit people from the community from attending student groups and/or clubs.
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Host school is a secondary school and receives federal financial assistance
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Gay-Straight
Alliances: A Handbook for Students, Educators, and Parents
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School officials preserve and have the right to monitor meetings
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Rosenberger v. Rector and
Visitors of the University of Virginia
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The Equal Access Act has also been used to fight opposition to
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Guidelines for schools under its protection and/or enforcement
415:. New York, NY: Harrington Park Press. pp. 37–53.
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Guidelines for groups and/or clubs under its protection
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137:Westside Community Board of Education v. Mergens
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376:Kern, Alexander; M. David Alexander (2012).
519:United States federal education legislation
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172:in 1984 to compel federally funded public
380:American Public School Law, 8th edition
313:Homosexuality and the Law: A Dictionary
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384:. Wadsworth Cengage Learning. p.
212:Westside Community Schools v. Mergens
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170:Education for Economic Security Act
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37:Denial of equal access prohibited
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447:from the original on 2014-05-31
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441:"Religion and Public Schools"
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494:Text of the Equal Access Act
168:passed as Title VIII of the
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514:98th United States Congress
128:United States Supreme Court
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409:Macgillivray, Ian (2007).
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16:United States federal law
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310:Stewart, Chuck (2001).
267:Group is not disruptive
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229:gay-straight alliances
179:gay–straight alliances
524:Religion and politics
509:1984 in American law
209:in 1990 in the case
104:Legislative history
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119:on August 11, 1984
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331:978-1-57607-267-7
189:Intent of the Act
174:secondary schools
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474:. Retrieved
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80:Codification
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451:2014-05-30
359:2014-05-30
297:References
237:irreligion
183:secularism
66:Public law
34:Long title
61:Citations
53:Effective
445:Archived
318:ABC-CLIO
205:by the
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94:U.S.C.
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322:14–15
161:is a
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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