The director of a rural Tennessee
school district said Monday that the district would not take action
against a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club.
Formation of the GSA in December at
Franklin County High School in Winchester has met with resistance
from some parents.
The Tennessean reported last
week that parents John Wimley and Chris Ball were encouraging others
to “stand against” the club meeting on school property. “If we
do not ban together and stop this B.S. the next thing you know they
will have F.I.M.A. (Future ISIS Members of America)
#PutGodInSchoolsPlease,” Wimley
reportedly wrote on Facebook.
Supporters and opponents of the club
packed the school's auditorium to discuss the issue at Monday's
school board meeting.
“I'm not going to stand for my
children to be [subjected] to homosexuality in the school system”
parent Robert
Widelick told the board.
Kevin Hambrick, a freshman at the
school and member of the GSA, spoke in support of the club: “You
can take us down. You can take our signs down. You can take the
tears out of our eyes. But we still have a legal right to keep
meeting.”
The board said that it was looking at
creating new policies surrounding student organizations in the school
system. Franklin County Schools Director Amie Lonas said after the
meeting that any new policy would not affect current organizations,
such as the GSA.