A Nebraska high school has provoked widespread condemnation after it forcibly closed an award-winning student newspaper three days after its Pride Month issue featured criticism of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.
The Northwest High School in Grand Island had been host to the Viking Saga student newspaper for 54 years before it made a decision to close down the paper on 19 May, the Grand Island Independent revealed this week.
Three days earlier, the newspaper had printed its June and final edition, which included an article titled, “Pride and prejudice: LGBTQIA+” on the origins of Pride Month and the history of homophobia.
It also included an editorial opposing Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law banning schools from discussing gender identity and sexuality, which came into affect amid widespread opposition from LGBT+ rights groups and others.
Students on the paper, including one who identifies as transgender, were informed that the paper would cease to exist. They added that the school board had previously reprimanded them for using preferred pronouns.
“It was the first time that the school had officially been, like, ‘We don’t really want you here,’” student Meghan Pennell told the Grand Island Independent. “You know, that was a big deal for me.”
Dan Leiser, president of the school board, said “most people were upset” with the pro-LGBT+ content of the June edition of the Saga in comments to the local paper. Vice president Zach Mader meanwhile argued: “If (taxpayers) read that (issue), they would have been like, ‘Holy cow. What is going on at our school?’”
The controversy has seen the school and condemned by LGBT+ activists and press freedom advocates, with the Nebraska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union calling the decision “hamfisted” and a form of “discrimination” in a statement.
“It sounds like a ham-fisted attempt to censor students and discriminate based on disagreement with perspectives and articles that were featured in the student newspaper,” said Sara Rips, an attorney for ACLU in Nebraska.
According to reports, Northwest High School also planned to close its journalism programme as a result of the LGBT+ edition of the student newspaper.
Nebraska Press Association attorney Max Kautsch, who specialises in media law, noted that press freedom is protected in the US constitution.
The Independent has approached Northwest high school for comment.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
