Victory! Corpus Christi, Texas High School Allows Gay-Straight Alliance on Campus

Tens of thousands of us spoke up for equality, and we were heard: Students in Corpus Christi, Texas have won their fight to have a Gay-Straight Alliance -- for now!

Late last night, school board members in Corpus Christi, Texas reversed their decision to deny high school senior Bianca "Nikki" Peet's request to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at her school. Nikki Peet can now start a GSA and meet on campus. The long-term future of the club is still not certain, however, so our support is still needed.

The Flour Bluff Independent School District's board of trustees held a four-hour emergency meeting last night at the administration building in Corpus Christi to talk about the legal consequences of denying a gay-straight alliance on campus. Their discriminatory decision to block a GSA had been threatened with litigation by American Civil Liberties Union and the Anti- Defamation League, and had become a national phenomenon: more than 55,000 supporters signed a petition at Change.org on behalf of Peet and supporters held an all-day rally last Friday at Flour Bluff High.

Local residents and GSA supporters wore white T-shirts at the board meeting, while three community members addressed the board about the need to have diversity and equality at Flour Bluff. After the community spoke, the board members went into a closed door quorum for the next four hours to vote on allowing a GSA on campus.

Outside the administration building, supporters of Peet gathered to await the verdict of the board -- they included family members as well as supporters from GetEQUAL TX, Equality Texas and students from the GSA at Texas A&M.

At 10:51 p.m., Flour Bluff ISD announced that they would be temporarily suspending a local policy that led to the denial of the gay-straight alliance and canceling all extra-curricular clubs on campus. A committee would be formed to review polices of Flour Bluff ISD with school superintendent Dr. Julie Carbajal directed to form the committee by April1, 2011. The overall review must be completed by the beginning of the 2011-2012 school -year.

Nikki Peet is allowed to have the Gay–Straight Alliance on campus while the review process is in place. All other extra-curricular student clubs that have been temporarily removed are allowed back on campus.

Paul Rodriguez, president of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, was thrilled with the board's 4-2 decision, he told Change.org.

“We are very excited to see this as a first step towards uniting the students at FBISD. This will allow Nikki and her GSA the opportunity to show the school district how beneficial this club will be to those students who really need this club. I applaud the school board in this decision and hope that this will continue from this date forward. We (TAMUCC GSA) are very proud of the advocates who came forward and supported the cause for equality, not only for the FB GSA, but for ALL students who had non-curricular clubs.”

With the support of local community members and thousands across the country standing up for Nikki Peet, taking action online through Change.org and locally, students at Flour Bluff ISD have started the process of creating inclusive safe spaces for all students.

This victory would not have been possible without the outpouring of support and action from individuals like you. This story is not over: Come back to Change.org as we follow Nikki Peet and the GSA at Flour Bluff High School.

Photo credit: boylikedat via YouTube