By By Nicol Jenkins
Boca Raton News

Students who are gay will now have access to log onto supportive websites in Palm Beach County schools.

Nine months after a student publication first disclosed that the School District of Palm Beach County had filtered out access to gay supportive web sites from the School District's computers, those filters have been removed.

"Sites are blocked to protect students. There is an appeal process; and if the site is found to be not harmful, it can be unblocked. That's what happened in this case, “ said School District spokesman Nat Harrington.

Area gay rights groups have applauded the district’s action.

"This is great news for teachers and students in our public schools," said Rand Hoch, President and Founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, a non-profit organization whose site was one of those which has been blocked by the School District. The Council has been working to advance equality for Palm Beach County's gay and lesbian community since 1988.

"Allowing access to up-to-date information provided by the Gay, Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and other supportive organizations will assist administrators, faculty and students in making our public schools a more accepting environment for all students," Hoch added. "The County's five GSAs will benefit as well."

GSAs (Gay Straight Alliances) are student organizations, which give gay students and their allies a safe and supportive place to meet.

Last March, an Inlet Grove High School senior published an investigative report disclosing that while Palm Beach County's teachers and students were denied access to gay-supportive web sites on the District's computer system, they could access the anti-gay web sites of the Traditional Values Coalition, the American Family Association, and Focus on the Family from any School District computer. Inletspin.com editor-in-chief Joe Dellosa, reported that the web sites of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (www.glsen.org ), Gay-Straight Alliance Network (www.gsanetwork.org) and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (www.pflag.org) were among those being blocked by the School District.

When this was brought to the attention of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, the Council enlisted the support of both Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Florida, Hoch said. For several months, Lambda Legal senior staff attorney Greg Nevins and ACLU of Florida Legal Director Randall Marshall had been working with the district to find a solution to this problem. As a result, the district is considering switching to the filtering software currently used by the School District of Miami-Dade County.

"That software appears to be much better, not lumping gay sites into a "alternative lifestyles/ fetishes" category that school officials would want to block, " Nevins said.

When Hoch met with district attorney Bruce Harris, he learned that the GLSEN web site was still being blocked.

"I had referred your request relating to this website to administrators. The site was reviewed by them and a determination was made that the site be blocked due to profanity found on it,” Harris stated.

Shortly after, Harris informed the Council that the district had removed the filter blocking the GLSEN web site, according to Hoch.

"We applaud the efforts of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council and thank the Palm Beach County School District for recognizing that GLSEN 's website is an important resource for enriching school climate and helping create safe schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation," said GLSEN Deputy Executive Director Eliza Byard.

"Unfortunately, Internet filters remain very blunt instruments: important and well-intentioned efforts to ensure that young people are not exposed to inappropriate information can also lead to blocking access to important internet resources," Byard added. "We are pleased that students and educators in Palm Beach County will now have access to GLSEN resources through its website."