Reeder v. Chawanakee Unified School District (LGBTQ Yearbook Quotes)
Status:
Closed Case
Mar 13, 2019
On January 14, 2019, Steven Madrid and Mikayla Garaffa, two Minarets High School students, had their pro-LGBTQ yearbook quotes rejected by school administrators who called the quotes “politically divisive.”
After the quotes were rejected, the two students sent the district a letter from the ACLU national office to Minarets High School’s yearbook advisor and school principal, asserting their free speech rights. The two administrators, acting on behalf of the school and the district, ignored this appeal, violating the students’ First Amendment rights to free speech and clear and well-established California law.
On March 6, 2019, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a lawsuit against Chawanakee Unified School District and Minarets High School administrators on behalf of the two students, arguing that the school's censorship was in violation of the student's free speech rights and right to be free of anti-LGBTQ bias in California schools.
UPDATE: The school district agreed to reinsert Mika and Steven’s yearbook quotes in the 2018-2019 Minarets High School Yearbook.
Read More:
ACLU Foundation of Northern California Sues School District for Censoring Students’ LGBTQ Quotes in Yearbook (March 6, 2019)
