Residents of Cleveland County, North Carolina are blasting their local school board for banning a high school club’s LGBTQ+ trivia game.

As the Charlotte Observer reported, the ACLU of North Carolina has sued the Cleveland County Board of Education and superintendent Stephen Fisher on behalf of one Shelby High School student for prohibiting the school’s Activism Club from playing the game.

Related

North Carolina shuts down LGBTQ+ trivia game claiming it’s “indecent”
A student organizer filed suit against the school board.

According to the lawsuit, a student, identified as M.K., proposed the “Jeopardy-style quiz game” during the spring 2024 semester. The game would have asked student participants “to identify people like Harvey Milk, Lady Gaga, and Ellen DeGeneres, as well as pieces of popular media that feature LGBTQ+ characters or actors.” The game had no depiction of any objectionable behavior that could have possibly justified its censorship under the First Amendment, the lawsuit added.

Stay connected to your community

Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

The lawsuit states that “M.K. hoped that the game would help fight stigma against LGBTQ+ individuals by highlighting the meaningful contributions they have made in all walks of American life, including public service, sports, and the arts.”

However, the Cleveland County Board of Education deemed the game “indecent” and banned it, despite, according to the lawsuit, never having prevented “any other student club activity that involved discussing art, politics, current events, or any other matter of public interest.”

The suit alleges that Shelby High School counselor Haley Pond, who serves as the club’s staff advisor, was told that Superintendent Fisher was concerned that the Activism Club’s activities might violate North Carolina’s “Parents Bill of Rights” law. Fisher, however, said the board’s decision regarding the trivia game was not based on the anti-LGBTQ+ law, which only restricts instruction on sexuality, physical intimacy, and gender identity in grades K–4.

The ACLU of North Carolina alleges that by preventing students in the voluntary, extracurricular club from playing the trivia game, the school board violated their rights guaranteed by the First Amendment and the Equal Access Act.

During a March 10 meeting, several members of the community spoke out against the board’s decision.

“A group of students wanted to host a trivia game about LGBTQ+ figures of history,” Rod Powell, a former board of education candidate, said according to the Shelby Star. “Just a game, no different than any other educational activity hosted by other clubs, but instead of treating them fairly this board shut them down, calling it ‘indecent.’ Since when is learning about history indecent? Since when is acknowledging the existence of LGBTQ+ people something to be censored? This isn’t just wrong, this is illegal.”

Powell accused the board of singling out LGBTQ+ topics for “suppression.”

“When you erase LGBTQ+ voices you’re telling students, our students, that their identities don’t belong in our schools,” he said. “That message is cruel.”

Austin Costner, meanwhile, highlighted the positive role LGBTQ+ people have played in shaping politics and culture.

“They produce works that challenge the norms and explore identity acceptance in the human experience,” Costner said. “It is important to recognize that discussions about these community members are not indecent, nor do they pose a threat to our students.”

“LGBTQ+ people not only exist, but add value to our society and whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, they exist in our schools and add value to our schools as well,” said local parent Jenni Ross. “What is indecent is belittling this entire group of people, again, including our very own students. It is indecent doing the students of Cleveland County Schools this disservice by limiting their ability to discuss the diversity that makes this community thrive.”

Ross added that she looks forward to seeing M.K.’s lawsuit succeed.

ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation staff attorney Ivy Johnson told the Shelby Star that while a court date has not been set yet, the ACLU filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on February 20.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.