PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Tell the Nashville Public Schools to Stop Censoring LGBT Information from Students
  1. Signatures
    229 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (Olivia Brown)
  2. Created By
    Michael Jones
    Boston, MA
About this Petition Petition Letter

More than 80 percent of schools in Tennessee, including those in Nashville, prevent students from accessing LGBT-related information on their computers.  Sites like the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation are banned from school computers - despite the fact that both sites have valuable resources on youth activism, coming out, campaigns against LGBT bullying and suicide, and more.  Meanwhile, sites that call for homosexuals to be rehabilitated and cured are completely available to students.

Tell Nashville Public Schools that students deserve accurate information about LGBT issues.  As one student told the ACLU, which is threatening a lawsuit, "Public schools are supposed to be places where students learn from the open exchange of ideas.  How are we supposed to be informed citizens and learn how to have respectful debate when our schools rule out an entire category of information for no good reason."

Email Olivia Brown, Spokesperson for the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, and ask her to respond to this LGBT censorship, and explain that for many LGBT students, sites that discuss coming out, LGBT bullying, and more are helpful and potentially life-saving.

Recent Signatures

Please stop censoring LGBT Web sites in Nashville Schools

Dear Ms. Brown

More than 80 percent of Tennessee's schools - including those within the Nashville Public School System - seem to be censoring certain LGBT Websites from students.  These Websites are completely harmless and do not expose students to anything controversial.  Rather, these Websites - including the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation - provide students with a rich resource of materials on issues including LGBT bullying, youth activism, coming out, and more. 

Meanwhile, Websites that talk about "curing" homosexuality and rehabilitating homosexuals are open to the students within Nashville's schools.  Why this double standard?

Health professionals of every stripe have roundly criticized Websites that champion "cures" or "rehabilitation" for LGBT people, pointing out the dangerous harm these sites cause to the mental health and well being of LGBT people.  That these Websites are available to Nashville students, while legitimate resources like the Human Rights Campaign are banned, is a disservice to students.

As one Nashville student told the ACLU, "Public schools are supposed to be places where students learn from the open exchange of ideas.  How are we supposed to be informed citizens and learn how to have respectful debate when our schools rule out an entire category of information for no good reason."

Nashville schools should hold themselves to a high standard.  Part of that high standard should be making sure that resources for LGBT students are not censored or hidden from the student-body population.

[Your name]

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