CENSORED: This is the sort of website blocked by filters in use in Little Rock and eStem schools.

  • CENSORED: This is the sort of website blocked by filters in use in Little Rock and eStem schools.

The Arkansas affiliate of the ACLU, as part of a national project, has written letters demanding that the Little Rock School District and the eStem Public Charter Schools stop blocking access on their computer systems to websites with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender content. It amounts to viewpoint censorship and of a particularly odious kind, based on what the ACLU has found.

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“It’s simply unconstitutional for schools to pick and choose which points of view they’ll let students have access to, but that’s exactly what both the Little Rock School District and eStem Public Charter Schools have been doing,” said Holly Dickson, staff attorney of the ACLU of Arkansas. “They’ve been allowing access to abstinence websites and harmful so-called “reparative therapy sites, but not legitimate sites with appropriate information for LGBT youth and their allies. It is completely unacceptable.”

The ACLU letter to eStem notes, for example, that some mainstream websites, such as one promoting a Day of Silence as a show of support for gay students and another encouraging alliances of gay and straight students, are blocked by that school’s use of a “lifestyle” content filter. But it does not block the hateful websites of the American Family Association and the Family Research Council, among other anti-gay organizations, or a group that makes a bogus claim of “therapy” to convert homosexuals.

The letter to LRSD indicates it blocks websites about homosexuality and advocacy groups. One teacher complained of being blocked from reaching a website with information about coping with bullying of gay students.

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The ACLU indicates it will sue if the schools do not stop blocking students access to information the schools’ deem inappropriate, a violation of the students’ constitutional rights. It says the districts can filter sexual content while still allowing access to websites with useful information to students, some of whom might be fearful of accessing the information at home.

The ACLU had asked students and teachers nationwide to check to see if such content was censored and acted based on reports from students. This action does NOT mean these are the only two public school districts in Arkansas censoring gay content. Any court ruling will be guidance to all of them.

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I’ve sought comments from LRSD and eStem. It’s an important measure of both institutions. Middle school is a tough time, particularly for kids with emerging questions about sexuality. That they’d be denied access to credible, useful websites while being exposed to people peddling bigotry and bogus science is unspeakably sad, in addition to just legally wrong.

UPDATE: John Bacon, head of eStem, sent me this less-than-encouraging response:

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It is unfortunate that I did not hear directly from the ACLU about their concerns prior to receiving a request for a response from you. I am looking into the issues regarding student access to various sites mentioned in the letter you sent me and am certainly willing to visit with ACLU representatives to hear their concerns and determine what, if any, actions need to be taken. We respect the diversity of the students and families who make up the eStem schools and will address any instances that might create a perception otherwise.

UPDATE II: Khayyam Eddings, an attorney for the Little Rock District, responded in a way that suggests corrective action might be in the offing:

This morning, I have communicated with the ACLU’s staff attorney Holly Dickson regarding this issue and assured her that the District’s Technology Committee would address it during its next regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, June 2, 2011. I also informed her that I would speak with Dr. Holmes in the interim regarding this issue. Ms. Dickson was satisfied, for now, with the proposed course of action.

How hard would it be for either to say: “If students are being denied access to useful information on sexuality, we’ll fix it.”

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The full ACLU release follows.

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