District sued over axing of student paper after LGBTQ issue

Mar 31, 2023, 8:52 AM

FILE - Former Viking Saga student newspaper staff members Marcus Pennell, left, and Emma Smith disp...

FILE - Former Viking Saga student newspaper staff members Marcus Pennell, left, and Emma Smith display a pride flag outside of Northwest High School in Grand Island, Neb., July 20, 2022. A former high school journalist is suing the Nebraska school district that last year shut down the school newspaper after it published an LGBTQ-focused edition. The federal lawsuit filed Friday, March 31, 2023, names Grand Island Northwest Public Schools and its superintendent. It claims the shutdown of the student paper at Northwest High School was unconstitutional. (McKenna Lamoree/The Independent via AP, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(McKenna Lamoree/The Independent via AP, File)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former high school journalist and the Nebraska High School Press Association sued Friday over a school district’s shutdown of the school newspaper after it published an LGBTQ-focused edition.

The federal lawsuit claims Grand Island Northwest Public Schools and its superintendent violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment in May when it bring the newspaper back in digital form.

“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,” Marcus Pennell, the former student suing the district, said in a statement. “I was crushed.”

An email message left with the school district’s superintendent, Jeffrey Edwards, was not immediately returned. Edwards last year called the shutdown “an administrative decision.”

Saga newspaper staff were informed of the newspaper’s elimination three days after printing of the June edition, which included an article titled, “Pride and prejudice: LGBTQIA+,” on the origins of Pride Month and the history of homophobia. It also included an editorial opposing a Florida law, dubbed by critics as “Don’t Say Gay,” that bans some lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity and

A May 22 email from a school employee canceling the paper’s printing services said it was “because the school board and superintendent are unhappy with the last issue’s editorial content.” Some school board members publicly stated their objection to the Saga’s LGBTQ content.

The lawsuit also states that Pennell, who is transgender, was told in March 2022 that he and others could use only names assigned to them at birth in their bylines and that they could not list their pronouns.

The lawsuit seeks a declaration that the district violated the law as well as unspecified damages. Grand Island is a city of about 52,300 residents about 150 miles (241 kilometers) west of Omaha.

United States News

FILE - Former President Donald Trump enters the stage during a rally for Georgia Republican candida...

Associated Press

Some in Georgia GOP seek purity test as Trump appears at convention in aftermath of indictment

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s state Republican convention gets underway Friday with Donald Trump still expected on Saturday, even as a right-wing party faction seeks to punish GOP officials it considers ideological traitors by banning them from future primary election ballots. Trump could feed an air of vengeance after announcing Thursday that he’s been Vivek Ramaswamy. […]

5 hours ago

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ...

Associated Press

Biden heads to North Carolina to push clean energy agenda and promote order aiding military spouses

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday will sign an executive order that aims to bolster job opportunities for military and veteran spouses whose careers are often disrupted by their loved ones’ deployments. Biden is using a visit to the recently renamed Fort Liberty in North Carolina to highlight the order. The order directs […]

5 hours ago

FiLE - Linda Jincks and her husband Rodger talk with driller Shane Harris as his crew drills a new ...

Associated Press

Oregon to crack down on illegal pot growers by holding landowners responsible

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon has long been known as a mecca for high-quality marijuana, but that reputation has come with a downside: illegal growers who offer huge amounts of cash to lease or buy land and then leave behind pollution, garbage and a drained water table. Now, a bill passed by the Oregon Legislature […]

1 day ago

A passenger rides a mostly empty Muni streetcar in San Francisco, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. California...

Associated Press

Car-obsessed California seeks to follow New York’s lead and save public transit

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sadaf Zahoor has bucked California’s car culture by never owning one, yet she and other residents who rely on public transit worry its bleak financial outlook could soon leave them standing at empty train stations and bus stops. The agencies running the public transit systems, particularly in San Francisco and Oakland, […]

1 day ago

FILE - African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Reginald Jackson announces a boycott of Coca-Cola ...

Associated Press

Supreme Court voting rights ruling stuns minority voters, who hope it expands their representation

WASHINGTON (AP) — This week’s Supreme Court decision ordering Alabama to redraw its congressional districts was seen by many minority lawmakers and voting rights activists as a stunning victory with the potential to become a major stepping stone for undoing political maps that dilute the strength of communities of color. Hank Sanders, a former Alabama […]

1 day ago

Associated Press

Delayed justice: 3 states remove all time limits on child sex abuse lawsuits

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Ann Allen loved going to church and the after-school social group led by a dynamic priest back in the 1960s. The giggling fun with friends always ended with a game of hide and seek. Each week, the Rev. Lawrence Sabatino chose one girl to hide with him. Allen said when it […]

1 day ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Desert Institute for Spine Care

Spinal fusion surgery has come a long way, despite misconceptions

As Dr. Justin Field of the Desert Institute for Spine Care explained, “we've come a long way over the last couple of decades.”

(Photo by Michael Matthey/picture alliance via Getty Images)...

Cox Communications

Valley Boys & Girls Club uses esports to help kids make healthy choices

KTAR’s Community Spotlight focuses on the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley and the work to incorporate esports into children's lives.

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.

District sued over axing of student paper after LGBTQ issue