LINCOLN, Neb. – A former student journalist and the Nebraska High School Press Association are suing Grand Island Northwest Public Schools and its superintendent, saying district officials violated the First Amendment by shutting down a school newspaper after students covered LGBTQ+ topics. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska filed the lawsuit in federal district court this morning.
The civil rights lawsuit focuses on the award-winning Grand Island Northwest High School student newspaper the Viking Saga and LGBTQ+ voices.
In March 2022, plaintiff Marcus Pennell, a transgender student, and others were told they could not list their pronouns or use their chosen names in author bylines. Instead, Pennell and others were forced to use their “legal” names as determined by the school district, an often traumatizing act for trans people that is known as deadnaming.
In the paper’s June 2022 issue, Pennell and other students covered LGBTQ+ topics to mark Pride Month in addition to a range of unrelated stories. Pennell wrote an article focused on what’s been called Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law and the harm of erasure. Days after the June issue went to print, he and his peers learned that the paper was being shuttered.
Although the school district has claimed the decision was unrelated to the June issue, a public comment from a school board official linked the decision directly to the paper’s content. Zach Mader, vice president of the Northwest Public Schools Board of Education, told the Grand Island Independent there was “a little bit of hostility” related to “editorials that were essentially, I guess what I would say, LGBTQ.”
Internal emails later obtained by the ACLU of Nebraska via a public records request provided further details on the district’s motivation. In an email to the superintendent and others, Board of Education President Dan Leiser called the June issue “a revenge tactic” related to the school’s directive to not print students’ pronouns. “I’m goin[g] back and forth in the field and I just keep getting more and more upset,” he wrote. “No more school paper, in my opinion.”
The lawsuit argues that school officials’ decision to shutter the newspaper violated plaintiffs’ First Amendment free speech rights on three counts: their right to be free of viewpoint discrimination, their right to be free of retaliation and their right to receive information.
Pennell made this statement on today’s filing:
“It is hard to find words for what it felt like watching people who were supposed to be supporting our education instead silence us for covering issues impacting our lives,” Pennell said. “I was crushed. Ever since I graduated, I felt I had a responsibility to seek accountability and advocate for the students who are still there, especially the LGBTQ+ kids. We have a right to be who we are and to write about our lives. I am hopeful that censorship is not the end of this story.”
Nebraska High School Press Association Executive Director Michelle Hassler made this statement on today’s filing:
“Venturing into litigation is not a step that we take lightly,” Hassler said. “Our involvement hopefully speaks to our level of concern about what happened at Grand Island Northwest and the implications for the students we serve. Our mission is to support and advocate for Nebraska’s high school media, and that’s exactly what this case aims to do. All student journalists should know that they have a right to learn and hone their skills consistent with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. And they should be able to cover issues that matter to them and their fellow students.”
ACLU of Nebraska Legal and Policy Counsel Jane Seu made this statement on today’s filing:
“At a time when so many trans and queer youth are being told to be anyone other than who they are, we are glad to be bringing this case,” Seu said. “Students have a right to express themselves and participate in school activities free from discriminatory retaliation. What happened to Marcus and his peers should never happen again. We are hoping for a victory that sends a clear message to LGBTQ+ youth: you have a First Amendment right to be yourself and to talk and write about your life.”
The lawsuit seeks a judge’s declaration that the district violated the law and damages as the court sees fit.
The Viking Saga recently restarted in an online format with a new advisor
