''Fricke v. Lynch'', 491 F. Supp. 381 (D.R.I. 1980), was a decision in the

United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island (in case citations, D.R.I.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Rhode Island. The District Court was created in 1790 when Rhode Island ratified the ...

that upheld the right of

Aaron Fricke Aaron Fricke (born January 25, 1962) is an American gay rights activist and author. He was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He is best known for '' Fricke v. Lynch'', a legal case in which he won his first amendment legal right to attend prom and ...

to bring a same-sex date to a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

dance. The Court ruled that existing free speech doctrine protected gay and lesbian students' rights to attend their proms with same-sex dates of their choice. The case was "one of the first successful victories in the courtroom for an

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

issue involving young people, and is routinely cited each year in numerous cases surrounding the rights of students to bring same-sex dates to school functions."

Background

In April 1979, a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

high school junior named Paul Guilbert sought his

principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

's permission to bring a male date, Ed Miskevich, a senior at Brown University, to his junior prom at Cumberland High School in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. The principal, Richard Lynch, "denied the request, fearing that student reaction could lead to a disruption at the dance and possibly to physical harm to Guilbert." The Cumberland School Department denied a public hearing to Paul Guilbert because his father opposed his plan to attend with a male date. Guilbert and Miskevich did not attend the prom. The next year, Guilbert's friend

, who was also a gay student at Cumberland High School, again asked Lynch for permission to bring a same-sex date to a school dance. Lynch denied the request in a letter to Fricke citing the "real and present threat of physical harm to ricke ismale escort and to others." Lynch also wrote that "the adverse effect among ricke'sclassmates, other students, the School and the Town of Cumberland, which is certain to follow approval of such a request for overt homosexual interaction (male or female) at a class function" was sufficient ground for rejecting the request. Fricke, represented by John Ward of

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) is a non-profit legal rights organization in the United States. The organization works to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression. The organizati ...

, filed suit in the

, seeking a

preliminary injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable reme ...

that would allow him to attend the dance.

Decision

The Court, accepting Fricke's

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

claim, decided that "even a legitimate interest in school discipline does not outweigh a student's right to peacefully express his views in an appropriate time, place, and manner." The Court wrote that threats of physical violence against Fricke and his date gave

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

students an

unconstitutional In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...

" heckler's veto" that would allow "them to decide through prohibited and violent methods what speech will be heard." The judge ruled that the precedent of ''

United States v. O'Brien ''United States v. O'Brien'', 391 U.S. 367 (1968), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, ruling that a criminal prohibition against Draft-card burning, burning a draft c ...

'', 391 U.S. 367, 88 S. Ct. 1673, 20 L. Ed. 2d 672 (1968), was the appropriate framework for judging the constitutionality of Lynch's decision. ''O'Brien'' required that the government and its agents pursue the "least restrictive alternative" before making any decision to limit

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

. The judge ruled that Lynch's decision failed to meet the requirement of ''O'Brien'' because the school could have taken "appropriate security measures to control the risk of harm" and the principal had not made "any effort to determine the need for and logistics of additional security." The judge ruled that "the

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

requires that such steps" be taken to investigate and implement security measures. The Court found the free speech claim to be dispositive and did not address Fricke's free association and

equal protection The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "nor shall any State... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal pr ...

arguments. With the respect to

arguments, the court noted that "the school adafforded disparate treatment to a certain class of students" by setting up different policies for those who wished to bring same-sex partners to the dance and those who wanted to bring different-sex partners. Such a policy, the Court said, could be "profitably analyzed under the

Equal Protection Clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "nor shall any State... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal pr ...

of the Fourteenth Amendment."

Aftermath

On May 31, 1980, the press reports said that "Amid heavy security, homosexual student Aaron Fricke showed up at the senior prom with a male companion. Both wore tuxedos." Lynch addressed the senior class earlier in the day and promised to respond to any harassment of the couple with "very stern measures." The school provided six rather than the customary two police officers for security. Some students taunted the couple when they danced together. Following ''Fricke'', American public high schools have increasingly allowed gay and lesbian students to attend school functions with their same-sex partners. In 2004, Murray High School in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

prohibited same-sex students from participating in the promenade of their prom. Press coverage noted the similarity to Fricke's case.''Detroit News''
Deb Price, "Utah student reinforces gay youth rights," April 30, 2004
, accessed March 26, 2012 Using ''Fricke'' as a

precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...

, the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

threatened to sue the high school on behalf of its gay and lesbian students. The high school reversed its policy and allowed 17-year-old lesbian Heather Johnston to dance with her girlfriend at the prom.ACLU Utah
"ACLU demand letter," March 11, 2004
, accessed March 26, 2012 In 2010,

Itawamba Agricultural High School The Itawamba County School District is a public school district based in Fulton, Mississippi, United States. The district's boundaries parallel that of Itawamba County. Schools *Tremont Attendance Center (grades K-12), Former Principal Dawn ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

canceled its prom after pupil Constance McMillen asked to attend with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo. She reported hostility from other students over the cancellation, and sued the school.Carlin DeGuerin Miller
"Constance McMillen wanted to take her girlfriend to the prom, So the school board canceled it,"
CBS News, March 11, 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fricke V. Lynch United States LGBTQ rights case law Student rights case law in the United States United States children's rights case law 1980 in United States case law 1980 in LGBTQ history School dances LGBTQ rights in Rhode Island 1980 in Rhode Island Cumberland, Rhode Island United States Free Speech Clause case law United States equal protection case law LGBTQ and education History of gay men in the United States LGBTQ history in Rhode Island United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island cases

Background

Decision

Aftermath

See also

References

External links