The American Civil Liberties Union has sent letters to schools in Missouri and Michigan telling them to stop blocking students’ access to educational websites about gay, lesbian and transgender issues. The organization says the letters are the beginning of a national campaign.
Besides the letters sent Monday to the North Kansas City School District and Rochester Community Schools, the ACLU is planning to send several dozen records requests in the next few months.
The ACLU first addressed the issue in 2009 when it filed a lawsuit over access to LGBT websites in the Knoxville and Nashville school districts in Tennessee. The districts ultimately agreed to stop using filtering software to block those sites.
Since then, ACLU staff attorney Joshua Block says the organization has received complaints, prompting the national campaign.
