Lake County, FL school leaders may stop 'gay-straight' club from forming

The Lake County School Board could create new rules that would keep a local Gay-Straight Alliance student group from forming at a middle school. The School Board discussed the rules for student clubs at a workshop Monday -- with most members saying they want to limit extra-curricular student groups in secondary schools. The discussion comes after the American Civil Liberties Union supported 14-year-old Bayli Silberstein, who wanted to form a Gay-Straight Alliance student club at Carver Middle School in Leesburg. Bayli was denied last school year but re-applied to form the group in October. The student has yet to hear a final decision from Principal Mollie Cunningham. The club aims to give students a place to be themselves and to combat bullying, according to Bayli's application, which detailed instances of children being shoved or called names because of their sexuality.