ACLU Threatens Suit in Gay Web Site Filtering

April 17, 2009 — -- Last December, when Andrew Emitt starting looking for college scholarships, he turned to his high school library, hoping to find Web sites that would guide him.

But the Tennessee 17-year-old is gay, and when he searched for organizations that might be friendly to LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) students, he hit a firewall.

What he discovered is that 107 schools in Tennessee -- including his, Knoxville Central High School -- use software that can block Web sites catering to gay issues.

Emitt couldn't find any education sites, but he could find those that promoted "reparative therapy," which promises to change homosexuals to heterosexuals.

"I wasn't looking for anything sexual or inappropriate," said Emitt. "I was looking for information about scholarships for LGBT students, and I couldn't get to it because of this software. Our schools shouldn't be keeping students in the dark about LGBT organizations and resources."

"It wasn't anything for entertainment value. It wasn't looking for games or for chat rooms or for e-mails or for dating. It was scholarships," he said.

Now, Emitt and another high school student from Nashville have joined forces with the American Civil Liberties Union and threatened Metro Nashville and Knox County schools with a lawsuit, demanding they remove the filter to "educational and political" Web sites.

"If a gay student wanted to... get information about organizations that can help him, he wouldn't be able to," Metro High School student Eric Austin told ABC's affiliate in Nashville.

"It would be like an African American student not being able to get to the NAACP's Web site," said Austin, who is also seeking redress.

The ACLU claims these blocks violate the First Amendment and the federal Equal Access Law.

"Schools are a place for education and part of education is preparing students to be participants in the political process," said Christine Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU's LGBT Project.

"With so many people getting news from the Internet, how can we expect students to be part of the political process if we shield them from one side of the debate?"