The American Cilil Liberties Union of Florida filed a motion asking a judge for a summary judgment regarding the lawsuit challenging the refusal of the Lake County School District to allow students at Carver Middle School to form a gay-straight alliance.

The lawsuit was filed in December of 2013 on behalf of a group of students enrolled at Carver Middle School. Those students challenged the school board's refusal to allow the club to form as a violation of student's rights.

Officials say that was the second lawsuit filed in less than 12 months challenging the school board's decision to deny the formation of a gay-straight alliance.

“As we successfully argued last year, the school board may not lawfully to pick and choose which clubs it wants to allow,” stated Daniel Tilley, ACLU of Florida LGBT rights staff attorney and lead counsel in the case. “Students deserve schools that will support them in ending bullying rather than exacerbating the problem. It’s time for the students at Carver to have the closure they deserve and have their right to establish this club to make their school a safer place respected.”

According to the ACLU, GSAs are student organizations made up of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and their straight allies that advocate for an end to bullying, harassment, and discrimination against all students. Officials say that LGBT students in schools with GSAs are significantly less likely to experience victimization related to their sexual orientation and gender expression, and less likely to feel unsafe because of their sexual orientation than students without a GSA.

The motion filed Friday asks a federal judge to issue a decision on whether or not the school board's efforts to prevent the club from forming violated the Federal Equal Access Act; that law says all student clubs must be given equal treatment by school administrators who must allow the club to meet and be treated the same as any other student club on campus.

From the motion filed by the ACLU:

“The new school year has just begun. The School Board through its Superintendent has violated the Equal Access Act in disallowing the Carver GSA to form and operate as a student group. Plaintiffs request that the Court ensure that they are given equal access to all of the benefits afforded to any other non-curriculum related student group as the school year resumes.”

The motion filed today may be found on the ACLU website with more information about the case available on a separate ACLU page.

The Lake County School Board has announced they will host a meeting on Monday to discuss the ACLU's announcement.