ACLU Asks Prince William County Schools to Stop Blocking Gay Websites

System accused of "blatant discrimination"

The American Civil Liberties Union is asking Prince William County schools to stop blocking students' access to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender websites.

According to Insidenova.com, students discovered the issue by following instructions on the ACLU's website to test school filters.

The students reported being able to access websites opposed to LGBT issues.

"In Prince William it's absolutely clear that the LGBT websites are being blocked and that whatever filtering system they're using actually allows through anti-LGBT websites," ACLU spokesman Kent Willis said. "That kind of blatant viewpoint discrimination by the government is both unconstitutional and an affront to every LGBT student in Prince William public schools."

The school system's software does block LGBT websites, schools spokesman Ken 

Blackstone said, but school officials are still looking into whether opposition websites are unfiltered.

"This is still under review and I haven't had the chance to analyze things to that degree," Blackstone said.

The ACLU has requested a response from the county by April 25.

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