Tennessee Student Fights Unfair Site Blocking

Via Good As You:

A 17-year-old Tennessee student was shocked to find he couldn't locate LGBT-related scholarship information on his school's computers. He discovered sites like PFLAG, GLSEN, and HRC  were blocked while anti-LGBT sites like this one and this one were accessible. So he sent a letter to the ACLU, smart kid. 

From the ACLU's press release regarding the student:

“When I found out about this web filtering software, I wasn’t looking for anything sexual or inappropriate – I was looking for information about scholarships for LGBT students, and I couldn’t get to it because of this software,” said Andrew Emitt, a 17-year-old senior at Central High School in Knoxville. “Our schools shouldn’t be keeping students in the dark about LGBT organizations and resources.”

[snip]

“One of the problems with this software is that it only allows students access to one side of information about topics that are part of the public debate right now, like marriage for same-sex couples,” said Karyn Storts-Brinks, a librarian at Fulton High School in Knoxville, pointing out that the software blocks access to organizations that support marriage for same-sex couples like the Religious Coalition for Freedom to Marry or the Interfaith Working Group while allowing access to organizations that oppose marriage equality. “Students who need to do research for assignments on current events can only get one viewpoint, keeping them from being able to cover both sides of the issue. That’s not fair and can hinder their schoolwork.”

This Video from WATE.com shows Emitt talking about his experience. 

The ACLU responded by sending a demand letter to the school systems requesting they unblock non-adult LGBT Web sites so that student could have equal access to information. 

From the ACLU:

Blocking students’ access to content that is protected speech under the First Amendment as well as the Tennessee state constitution, and only allowing access to one side of an issue by blocking certain websites is illegal viewpoint discrimination, according to a letter the ACLU sent to the districts and the Tennessee Schools Cooperative. We’re asking them to come up with a plan to restore access to the LGBT sites or any other category that blocks non-sexual websites advocating the fair treatment of LGBT people by the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.

The Knox County School district referred the letter to the Knox County Law Director's office for review. They haven't indicated weather they will take action or wait for the lawsuit to be filed before they allow students unrestricted access to unbiased information about LGBT issues.