LGBTQ students at Katy ISD call internet policy discriminatory, demand change

Katie – Several students who spoke at Monday’s Katy ISD board meeting said they will not be silent until what they see as the “LGBTQ discriminatory agenda” ends.

School district administrators have said plans are in place to protect all students.

“It’s definitely a crisis,” Seven Lakes High School senior Cameron Samuels said.

Samuels reports on the Katy ISD Internet policy, which school district administrators say is signed with the Children’s Internet Protection Act, or CIPA.

The policy blocks access to pages deemed unauthorized, but Samuels says it will also filter access to major LGBTQ resources.

“When a student is on the verge of committing suicide, it’s important that they have access to a life threatening program like the Trevor Project,” Samuels said.

She said when Katy ISD students use schools to reach out to The Trevor Project and other areas of the LGBTQ community, they get a more negative message.

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Katy ISD officials issued this inflammatory response:

The district provides a variety of communication and communication technology capabilities that align with its educational goals and are consistent with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Because there are billions of pages available worldwide, the content made available to students during the training day is reviewed and filtered through a third-party school-based platform that is CIPA’s Provides compliance. The act of filtering all content found on the Internet, including hyperlinks to external content such as e-mail, chat rooms, and other forms of direct mail—spaces that are often occupied by minors and adults—CIPA is blocked by Guidelines for student technology use can be found in the district.

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Katy ISD said it not only blocks access to web pages that deal with LGBTQ issues, but also blocks access to content containing “human sexuality,” as in the news, apparently in violation of human rights. Access to the campaign is restricted.

Samuels believes today’s plan is in a strong position to send a bad message.

And Samuel said.

In addition to a petition with more than a thousand signatures, students submitted technical assistance requests, hoping for an exemption to the Internet policy. There is no word yet on when and if this will be done.