ACLU joins gay student's suit against Washoe County

Derek Henkle, now 19 and living in Atlanta, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Reno last month making claims of negligence and infliction of emotional distress in seeking unspecified damages.

He alleges school officials denied him equal protections because of his sexual orientation and denied him free speech rights by allegedly urging him to hide his sexual orientation.

Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said his organization is preparing a Friend of the Court brief in Henkel's behalf.

"The apparent failure of Washoe School officials to ensure Derek's safety is outrageous," Peck said. "The ACLU will do what ever we can do that is appropriate to lend our support."

The Lambda Legal Defense and Legal Fund is representing Henkel in his case against Galena High School Principal Ross Gregory and seven other school district officials.

"It is our hope that the school districts in Nevada and the nation understands that harassment cannot be tolerated," Lambda attorney Doni Gewirtzman said.

Henkel alleges administrators ignored threats of violence and physical attacks at three Washoe County high schools between fall of 1995 and fall of 1996.

He said while he was attending Galena two boys threw a lasso around his neck and threatened to drag him from a pick up truck.

At Washoe High, he said Principal Bob Floyd warned him against "acting like a fag." At Wooster, he said school police officers neglected to intervene when he was repeatedly punched in the face.

"When school officials constantly switched me from school to school, they said they were keeping me safe. In fact they didn't care about me at all, they just wanted to sweep the abuse under the rug," Henkel said last month.

Attorney Bob Cox, the school district's lead counsel and spokesman in the matter, said he was in the process of investigating the issue. Cox said he questions the underlying facts of the case and believes Henkel has made some unfounded allegations.

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