## Facts

- Boyd County High School permitted multiple noncurriculum-related student groups to meet on school premises during noninstructional time.
- Student plaintiffs sought to form a Gay–Straight Alliance (GSA) to address anti-gay harassment and discrimination and to support affected students.
- School administrators delayed and ultimately refused to recognize the GSA, citing controversy and community opposition related to sexual orientation.
- After plaintiffs threatened litigation, the Board voted to suspend or ban all student clubs rather than permit the GSA to meet.
- Evidence showed the “all clubs” suspension was not applied uniformly; some student groups continued to receive access to school resources and opportunities to meet.
- Plaintiffs presented evidence of anti-LGBT harassment at the school and argued the GSA’s purpose was educational and supportive, not sexual in nature.
- Plaintiffs sued alleging violations of the Equal Access Act, the First Amendment (speech and association), and related state-law claims, and moved for a preliminary injunction requiring equal access.

## Issues

1. Whether the school’s refusal to recognize the GSA, and the subsequent suspension of clubs, violated the Equal Access Act by denying equal access within a limited open forum.
2. Whether the exclusion of the GSA violated the First Amendment by discriminating against student speech and association based on viewpoint.
3. Whether plaintiffs satisfied the requirements for a preliminary injunction (likelihood of success, irreparable harm, balance of harms, and public interest).

## Decision

- The court granted a preliminary injunction.
- The court found plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their Equal Access Act claim because the school maintained a limited open forum and could not exclude the GSA based on the content of its meetings or message.
- The court found plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their First Amendment claims because the Board’s actions reflected viewpoint-based discrimination driven by opposition to the GSA’s message.
- The court concluded the Board’s “ban all clubs” response did not eliminate the limited open forum as implemented, because some groups continued to receive access while the GSA did not.
- The court held the denial of equal access caused irreparable harm to students’ expressive rights, and the balance of harms and public interest favored enforcing federal statutory and constitutional protections.
- The court ordered the school to provide the GSA equal access to facilities and school communication channels on the same terms as other student groups during noninstructional time.

## Legal Principles

- A public secondary school that permits any noncurriculum-related student group to meet during noninstructional time creates a limited open forum under the Equal Access Act.
- In a limited open forum, a school may not deny access to a student group based on the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the group’s speech, including viewpoint-based objections.
- A school may not avoid Equal Access Act obligations through a nominal, across-the-board club prohibition if, in practice, favored groups continue to receive access while disfavored groups are excluded.
- The First Amendment generally prohibits excluding student-initiated, noninstructional-time groups because their viewpoints are controversial or unpopular, absent a legally sufficient showing of disruption.
- Loss of First Amendment freedoms, even briefly, constitutes irreparable injury for purposes of preliminary injunctive relief.

## Conclusion

The court ordered the school district to provide the student GSA the same access afforded other student groups, holding that a school operating a limited open forum cannot exclude a club based on hostility to its message and cannot use a selectively applied “ban all clubs” policy to continue viewpoint-based exclusion.


Boyd Cnty. High Sch. Gay Straight All. v. Bd. of Educ. of Boyd Cnty., 258 F. Supp. 2d 667 (E.D. Ky. 2003)