Gay students and GLBT allies at White County High School in north Georgia are facing another obstacle on the way to getting their gay-straight alliance PRIDE up and running. Even though a July federal court ruling forced school administrators to allow the club – the high school had banned all extra-curricular activities as a means to keep the GSA out, which violated the Equal Access Act – the school is now forcing any students looking to join to get their parents to sign a permission slip. And that, of course, requires students to have "the talk" with their parents, which may be enough to keep many from joining.

White County School Superintendent Paul Shaw said that while PRIDE is now able to meet on campus, it was not part of the school’s listing of extracurricular activities when the 2006-2007 student handbook was created and is considered a new club. According to a new Georgia law, parents must give express permission for students to join new clubs.

“We did the handbook before the court ruling and [PRIDE] is not listed in the handbook,” Shaw said Aug. 8. White County schools started back on Aug. 7.

“Any new club that is started this year requires a parent’s signature for a student to join this one year,” he added.

Ga. school's students face new hurdle for gay-straight club [New York Blade]