The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, together with the National Center for Lesbian Rights today filed suit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, Washington Preparatory High School administrators, teachers, and security guards for harassing gay and lesbian students on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation.
The legal complaint, filed in federal district court, charges LAUSD and Washington Preparatory High School staff with operating "a climate rife with hostility towards and discrimination against students and staff based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation."
Conditions at the school, and the district's failure to address those conditions, were first brought to the ACLU's attention in August. Despite repeated demands by ACLU attorneys and students at the school, officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District have not brought the school into compliance with state law.
"No student should go to school feeling unsafe from harassment of any sort," said Catherine Lhamon, staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California. "But what makes this case particularly troubling is that the harassment came from school administrators, teachers, and security guards among others. Students have no recourse when the school bully wears a security guard's uniform or happens to be the home room teacher."
The following are a few of the numerous individual incidents of harassment listed in the legal complaint:

• Administrators, teachers, and staff themselves call students names such as "faggot" and "sinner" and tell the students they are "wrong," "unholy," "hate[d]," and "not supposed to be like this" because the students are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, or bisexual
• Teachers threaten to, and do, "out" students to their families as punishment for students' sexual orientation
• A student physically assaulted another student during class based on the student's sexual orientation but the teacher stood idly by because the teacher thought the assaulted student "needed to toughen up"
• Security guards verbally harangue same-sex couples but ignore public displays of affection from heterosexual student couples on campus
• Administrators and deans suspend and otherwise discipline students for complaining about harassment and for choosing same-sex partners
• An assistant principal refuses to speak the word "gay"over the school public address system to announce a meeting of the Gay-Straight Alliance club

"As I see it, people harass me and other students for being gay because they don't really know us," said David Ramirez [not his real name]. "If these people could sit down with me, they would find out that I'm just a regular high school student. I'm close with my family, and I spend a lot of time hanging out with them, barbecuing, and just having a good time. And, just like any other high school student I deserve respect too. I hope that by joining this lawsuit, I can educate people and make a difference for other gay and lesbian students."
The lawsuit calls for an injunction ordering the defendants to put an end to the unconstitutional and illegal harassment and also asks that the school and the district reevaluate and institute proper training procedures for all staff to put an end to the hostile and intolerant school envirornment.
"The Gay-Straight Alliance Network (GSA Network) is also a plaintiff in this case on behalf of young people at Washington Preparatory who were too scared to come forward or felt too unsafe to speak up about the harassment they are enduring," said Carolyn Laub, executive director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network. "We are deeply concerned about the fact that many youth may not feel safe enough at Washington Prep to join the GSA club. GSA clubs provide a safe place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and straight ally students to meet at school and get support, which is especially important in the face of a hostile school climate."

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California announced today the launching of a media campaign to inform ex-offenders of their voting rights and encourage civic participation among persons who have served their sentences and parole after being convicted of a felony.

"Far too many ex-offenders are not aware that they have a right to regain their voting privilege once they have served their time," said Ramona Ripston, executive director for the ACLU of Southern California. "This campaign will both inform people of their rights and encourage them to take full advantage of being re-integrated into civic society."

The ACLU/SC will run two different radio spots urging ex-offenders to register or re-register to vote.

The English-language radio ad features popular television personality Judge Greg Mathis of the nationally syndicated "Judge Mathis Show" and will air on KKFR 92.3 FM and KJLH 102.3 FM. Judge Mathis, who went from teenage gang member to becoming the youngest judge in Michigan history, encourages others to register to vote prior to the October 18 deadline.

The Spanish language ad features bilingual underground rapper Azteka and will run on KSCA 101.9 FM. The East Los Angeles native draws on his years spent in the California Youth Authority (CYA) before he turned his life around through music. He urges listeners to register to vote as various propositions on the November ballot will have a direct impact on the Latino community.

The ads will run through the week of October 15. The deadline to register to vote is October 18.

The California parolee population numbers approximately 112,000. In 2003, California discharged approximately 42,204 people from the parole system. The California Department of Corrections reports that 22,400 people have been discharged from parole through June of this year, and they estimate a total of 44,800 will be discharged by the end of 2004.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California will host the Los Angeles premiere of "Unconstitutional," the latest groundbreaking documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Robert Greenwald, at Laemmle's Music Hall 3 on Thursday, September 23, 2004 at 7:00 PM.

"'Unconstitutional' is a chilling expos� of the ways in which the 'war on terror' has been used to infringe upon and roll back basic civil liberties and constitutional rights since 9/11," said Ramona Ripston. "The ACLU is excited to team up with Robert Greenwald to bring "Unconstitutional" to Los Angeles."

"Unconstitutional," which was written, directed and produced by Nonny de la Pe�a, explores how the Patriot Act has taken away checks on law enforcement and endangers the civil liberties of all Americans. The Patriot Act, which was passed just 45 days after September 11 with virtually no debate, is being met with a significant grassroots groundswell from across the political spectrum. Resolutions opposing the Patriot Act have passed in approximately 340 communities in 41 states, including four statewide resolutions. These communities represent over 53 million people who believe that the Patriot Act goes too far.

By focusing on the personal stories of real people, "Unconstitutional" aims to reveal how paranoia, fear and racial profiling have led to gross infringements on freedom and democracy without strengthening national security. In addition to interviews with ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero and ACLU Legislative Director Laura Murphy, "Unconstitutional" features a diverse cross-section of people, including:

' Vincent Cannistraro, former director of the CIA's counter-terrorism operations

' Sam Hamoui, whose parents and sister were detained under Attorney General John Ashcroft's "Absconder Apprehension Initiative"

' Anne Turner, Librarian, Santa Cruz Public Library

' Bob Barr, former Republican Congressman from Georgia

' Major Michael Mori, the U.S. military lawyer appointed to Guantanamo detainee David Hicks

Greenwald has brought more than 45 films to audiences worldwide. In the last three years alone, Greenwald has produced and/or directed more than 30 hours of television movies and miniseries, a feature film and a feature documentary. The films have won numerous awards including 25 Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and a Peabody Award.

De la Pe�a has contributed investigative reports for BBC's Omnibus & Inside Story, A&E's Investigative Reports, HBO's American Undercover and the Discovery Channel, among others.

Her first production for HBO, "Death on the Job," was nominated for an Academy Award.

A question and answer session with Robert Greenwald, Nonny de la Pe�a and Ramona Ripston will follow the film premiere.

Laemmle's Music Hall 3 theaters are located at 9036 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills. Admission to the film is $15.

For a complete list of screenings or to view a trailer of the film, go to http://http.dvlabs.com/carolina/UnConst/UnConstTeaser_Av2.wmv

To learn more about the Patriot Act and the erosion of civil liberties, go to http://www.aclu.org/safeandfree/