The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned a lower court's ruling that barred a group of students from establishing a gay-straight alliance at a Lake County middle school.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida sued the Lake County School Board in 2013 on behalf of the students after the board refused to allow the alliance to meet at Carver Middle School.
The students' lawyers argued the board violated the federal Equal Access Act, which bans secondary schools from limiting non-curricular clubs to particular subject areas.
A federal judge dismissed the case last year after ruling the act only applied to secondary schools.
But a three-judge panel on Tuesday found that the act applied to Carver "because it provides courses for high school credit and, under Florida law, these courses constitute 'secondary education.' "
In the 19-page opinion written by Judge William Pryor, the appellate court also rejected claims by the school board that the complaint was moot because H.F., the child who filed the lawsuit along with the alliance, no longer attended the school.
Because H.F. and the alliance could be eligible for "nominal damages," which are "the appropriate means of vindicating rights whose deprivation has not caused actual, provable injury," the three-judge panel sent the case back to the lower court.
The case has become a flashpoint in the LGBT community after the school board changed its policy about extracurricular clubs to prevent the gay-straight alliance from forming at the school.
In a statement, ACLU lawyer Daniel Tilley hailed the appellate court for agreeing with the plaintiffs' legal arguments.
"But the greater victory is for the middle school students across Florida who are protected by the Equal Access Act and must be allowed to create a gay-straight alliance if their school allows student clubs," Tilley said.