Lambda Legal

Personal Stories

Out, Safe & Respected Tool Kit

Derek Henkle

From the time Derek Henkle came out on public-access television when he was 14, his life in the Reno, Nevada, school system was a nightmare. “I would be spit on, and I would be punched, and I would be kicked,” he remembers. “I was humiliated every day.” School administrators and teachers stood by while other students harassed, threatened and beat Derek. One assistant principal actually laughed after students tried to tie Derek to a truck and drag him down the street. Rather than addressing the antigay harassment and violence, school administrators transferred Derek to other schools — as if he were the problem. At 16, Derek, who had been in a program for “gifted and talented” students since the fourth grade, was forced to resort to adult-education classes, where it was impossible to obtain a high school diploma. Derek fought back. He contacted Lambda Legal and with our help secured a $450,000 settlement and a letter in his academic file explaining why his education was cut short. Derek is now moving on with his life and attending college.

Anthony Colín

When Anthony Colín founded the gay-straight alliance in his high school, he had no idea that he’d have to battle to keep it. First the school board denied the GSA’s application to become a recognized student club. This meant that the GSA couldn’t have meetings at the school like other student clubs. Then the school board told the students involved in the GSA that it could only reconsider the group’s application if the group changed its name. With Lambda Legal’s help, Anthony and his friends sued the school district. The GSA won the right to meet while the lawsuit proceeded and ultimately won the right to meet at the school, use the school’s public address system to make announcements and be featured in the school yearbook, just like other student clubs.

Aaron Fricke

Aaron Fricke asked Paul Guilbert to the prom — and Paul said yes. But Aaron’s principal said no. Aaron knew he should be able to go to the prom like everyone else, and he filed a lawsuit. Not only did Aaron win the right to take Paul to the prom, but his school also had to provide enough security so that he and Paul would be safe. Aaron helped show that unless a school has reason to believe someone’s date will cause a “serious disruption,” students must be allowed to go to the prom with the date of their choice. That was in 1980. Today the law is still in effect, thanks to Aaron.

Mirah Curzer

At 16, Mirah Curzer joined some of her classmates who were forming a gay-straight alliance. Although she is straight, Mirah believed strongly in fighting for equal treatment for all students. But officials at Lubbock High School, in Texas, didn’t share her views. They denied the group’s application, even though the school hosts many other clubs. Unfortunately, a federal judge ruled in favor of the school in the only Lambda Legal lawsuit on behalf of a GSA that has been unsuccessful so far. But Mirah and her fellow students won in the court of public opinion. They engaged their peers and organized an extraordinary town hall meeting. For conservative Lubbock, it was the largest gathering ever to focus on LGBT rights. The town meeting and media attention around this motivated group of students have energized the entire community and encouraged action for LGBT youth empowerment.

Alison Shea

When she joined Time Out Youth, an LGBTQ youth organization in Charlotte, North Carolina, Alison Shea was looking for a place where she could be herself without being judged or rejected. She found that place and then made sure that other LGBTQ young people would find it, too, when she signed up for Time Out Youth’s billboard project. The idea was to place five billboards around Charlotte with the slogan “We are your gay youth.” Realizing that the message would be far more powerful if it included real LGBTQ young people, Alison and three other Time Out Youth members boldly appeared on the larger-than-life signs. For five weeks, the billboards stopped traffic throughout the city, promoting the visibility of LGBTQ youth and connecting them with a safe haven where they’d find help, information and a welcoming community.