WHERE:     United States Court of Appeals for the 
                      Ninth Circuit
                 Courtroom 1
                 95 Seventh Street (at Mission St.)
                 San Francisco

The ACLU of Northern California represents six former students at Live Oak High School who were the victims of cruel and unrelenting anti-gay harassment by their peers. The students have sued the Morgan Hill Unified School District and six of its administrators in federal court alleging that the school district discriminated against the students on the basis of their sexual orientation because of the administrators' deliberate indifference to the known verbal and physical attacks on the students.

"This case is important because it serves as a reminder that public schools are responsible for protecting students perceived to be gay or lesbian from harassment," said Ann Brick, staff attorney with the ACLU-NC. "These students faced continual harassment and violent threats by their classmates without any protection from school authorities. Their pleas were ignored and the harassment continued unabated. This case allows the 9th Circuit to reaffirm that in the public schools, all students deserve the same protections."

The issue before the Ninth Circuit on October 5th is whether the school administrators must face a trial on the students' claims against them. The administrators argue that they are immune from the lawsuit because they could not be expected to know that their deliberate indifference to the known anti-gay harassment of the students in their school violates the equal protection clause of the federal Constitution. Last February, the district court rejected that defense and ruled that the students are entitled to a jury trial. It is that ruling - that the administrators are not immune from the suit - that is before the Ninth Circuit.

"It is troubling that these school officials continue to insist that the law permitted them to ignore complaints of harassment and violence simply because the students lodging the complaints were lesbian, gay or bisexual, or perceived to be," said Christine Hwang of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

The students are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National ACLU Lesbian/Gay Rights Project, and attorneys at the firm of Keker & Van Nest, LLP.