Some LGBTQ groups and leaders are taking different sides in First Amendment case

A case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court next week presents one of those rare instances in which different LGBTQ groups are on opposite sides. The case is Mahanoy v. BL, an appeal which asks the Supreme Court to take a new look at a long-standing First Amendment decision from 1969 and say whether it needs to be re-thought, given today’s new social media and cyber-bullying realities. In friend-of-the-court briefs submitted in the case, different LGBTQ groups and leaders are taking different sides. Some argue that schools need the authority to discipline students for inappropriate messages even when those messages are delivered off-campus and after-school. Others say students need protection from school authorities over-reaching into the personal views and expressions of students. Both sides say the case, which has no LGBT-specific elements, could have important implications for LGBTQ students. The case before the court started in 2017, when a student at a small public high school in central Pennsylvania posted an angry message on Snapchat, expressing her anguish at having been rejected for the varsity cheerleading squad. The student, identified in numerous news reports as Brandi Levy, is identified in court documents as B.L., and she attended Mahanoy…
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