Tribe Defends Gay Rights Group

In what could lead to a landmark decision on gay rights, Professor of Law Laurence H. Tribe '62 is attacking a controversial Oklahoma statute before the Supreme Court.

The statute, passed by the Oklahoma legislature in 1978, states that teachers who "advocate, promote or encourage" homosexual behavior in a way that "comes to the attention of school children" can be fired.

"This case is significant because it raises fundamental questions of freedom of speech and the rights of minorities," said Tribe, a constitutional law expert who has agreed to argue the case for the National Gay Task Force (NGTF) for free.

Immediately after passage of the law, the NOTE attacked it as a violation of teachers' First Amendment rights. Tribe has said the law could go so far as affecting teachers affiliated with the Democratic Party, since its 1984 platform criticized discrimination against homosexuals.

A similar bill passed in California in 1978 was later struck down by courts as an intrusion of teachers' private lives.

Dennis W. Arrow, lawyer for the Oklahoma Board of Education--defendant in the Supreme Court case-said the statute is not designed to prevent teachers from advocating gay rights, but to prevent such advocacy from coming to the attention of students.

And Oklahoma's attorney general has said that the "state should be permitted to require that a school teacher remain neutral on all controversial issues."

But in his brief, Tribe argued that "the only way to be safe is either to steer clear of the whole topic or whenever the subject comes up, to proclaim complete aversion to homosexuals."

The case is expected to be decided by the high court in upcoming weeks.