Meet Wren Prahl, a sixth-grader at iForward, a virtual-only public charter school based in northwest Wisconsin.
When Prahl, who uses they/them pronouns, tried to start a gay-straight alliance at their school, administrators first skirted the issue before suspending them. So Prahl called the ACLU.
Various students and faculty at iForward had begun request a GSA as early as 2019. When Prahl started at the school in Fall 2020, they began the push to make the club a reality.
“The school didn’t already have one and I wanted to meet more people,” Prahl told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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Prahl approached the school principal, Constance Quade, in December in hopes of starting the club. Quade initially told Prahl that the request would have to wait until a new semester, as the school did not approve student-initiated clubs mid-term.
In January, Prahl tried again, enlisting a teacher to email students about joining the school’s “Rainbow Club.” Principal Quade responded by suspending Prahl for one day in February for trying to advertise non-school-sponsored activities.
For Prahl, the suspension came as a shock. iForward offers a number of non-academic activities, including a chess club and a Dungeons & Dragons club.
Undeterred, Prahl partnered with their mother and a teacher to contact the American Civil Liberties Union. The group filed a complaint with the school district in March 2021. Elisabeth Lambert, a lawyer for the ACLU repping Prahl, argued that Quade’s actions violated the Equal Access Act.
The federal law declares that if a school allows any non-academic group, it must offer equal access to all students, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. As iForward offered the aforementioned chess club, Dungeons & Dragons club as well as several sports teams, the school would need to allow for the formation of the GSA.
The Grantsburg School District, home of iForward, investigated Prahl’s case in the context of Lambert’s complaint, eventually ruling in their favor. Prahl had their suspension expunged, and the district vowed to “help promote a safe, nondiscriminatory environment for LGBTQ students at the school.”
As for Prahl, they say they look forward to returning to school this fall… and starting the iForward GSA with the start of the new year.
Well done, Wren.
Related: Tennessee School Boots Teacher After He Started Gay-Straight Alliance
Fahd
Wow – To be a fly on the wall when the school district received the initial complaint from the ACLU. Lol Good for Prahl, and may the Rainbow Club have every success.
Cam
That charter school should also have it’s agreement with the county looked over. They are supposed to abide by the same laws and rules as public schools since they are funded with tax dollars.
The real Bruce
Good for you Cam! I’m proud of the mature and honest response you have and the great suggestions too. I support them 100%! Cheers to Parhl too!
Catholicslutbox
Charter schools…
Im sure that if Ellen were still a thing, she would’ve given this girl $5-10k for appearing on her show.
Ellen loves to give money to gay girls/women
Jimmer
Catholicslutbox, Ellen is still a thing so stop dumping on other members of the community. Don’t we get enough sh*t from the straight republican trolls
Plus, she doesn’t only give to gay girls/women but to all deserving people who do good for their communities.
glennmcbride
What impresses me more than anything else is that this young person is in the 6th grade!! Elementary school students requesting a gay straight alliance – a lot has changed since I was in the 6th grade.
Doug
I was thinking the same thing when I was reading it. Sixth or seventh grade was about the time I realized I was gay. This would have been unthinkable then.
butchqueen
GO WREN!!!
JB
Seems like iForward needs to change its name to iBackward.
GayEGO
Now this is good news, congratulations Wren!
Heywood Jablowme
As an ACLU member I’m glad to hear that we’re helping with this case!
Membership doesn’t cost much so check out your state’s ACLU and see what they’re involved with, you might want to get involved too.
Kangol2
What an amazing young person, and I’m so glad that the ACLU is aiding Wren and their fellow students.
Openminded
Why would a virtual only school even really care about a club that some will probably find offensive. It’s not like a virtual school will have in person club meeting. Obviously the 6th grader rightfully stood their (God, I hate plural pronouns) ground and pushed for the right thing.