JACKSON – A Mississippi school district wants a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by a lesbian who claimed her rights were violated because the senior photograph of her dressed in a tuxedo was left out of the school yearbook.
The Copiah County School District said in court documents that Ceara Sturgis didn’t identify a constitutional right in the suit the American Civil Liberties Union filed on her behalf in August.
In its motion filed Friday, the district referenced a similar 2002 lawsuit in Florida that had been dismissed by a federal judge. However, that decision was later appealed and a settlement was reached.
American Civil Liberties Union attorney Christine P. Sun says the United States Supreme Court has held that discrimination based on gender stereotypes is illegal.
Sturgis graduated this past spring. (AP)
