Aaron Fricke

Last updated
Aaron Fricke
Born (1962-01-25) January 25, 1962 (age 61)
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Occupation(s)Activist, author

Aaron Fricke (born January 25, 1962) is an American gay rights activist and author. He was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He is best known for Fricke v. Lynch , a legal case in which he won his first amendment legal right to attend prom and for his autobiography Reflections of a Rock Lobster in which he details growing up gay culminating at that high school dance.

Contents

Court case

Shortly after he came out in 1980, Fricke began seeing another male student. Fricke decided to bring him as his date to the prom. When the high school informed Fricke he could not bring him to the prom, he filed suit in U.S. District court. The presiding judge, Raymond J. Pettine, ruled in Fricke's favor, ordering the school to not only allow him and his partner to attend as a couple but also to provide enough security to ensure their safety. [1] The case received considerable media attention, [2] and news camera crews filmed and interviewed the couple at the dance. [3]

The case set a precedent that has been used across the United States to establish a legal right for students to bring same sex partners to school proms and other school social events. [4]

Writing

Fricke later wrote of his experience in a book, Reflections of a Rock Lobster: A Story about Growing Up Gay. [5] He later collaborated with his father, Walter, on Sudden Strangers: the Story of a Gay Son and his Father, [6] a book about their relationship and of the elder Fricke's coming to terms with his son's homosexuality. That book was published shortly after Walter Fricke's death from cancer in 1989. In 2012 and 2013, Boston Children's Theatre presented a play based on the book, adapted by Burgess Clark. The play received national attention for its anti-bullying message. [7] BCT became the first children's repertory theater in the United States to portray gay rights issues with this production. [8]

Mr. Fricke's archive includes correspondence and the period of writing the two books, is held in the San Francisco Public Library. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

Gay bashing is an attack, abuse, or assault committed against a person who is perceived by the aggressor to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). It includes both violence against LGBT people and LGBT bullying. The term covers violence against and bullying of people who are LGBT, as well as heterosexual people whom the attacker perceives to be LGBT.

Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of female–male sexuality and relationships. According to Elizabeth Cramer, it can include the belief that all people are or should be heterosexual and that heterosexual relationships are the only norm and therefore superior.

GLSEN is an American education organization working to end discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression and to prompt LGBT cultural inclusion and awareness in K-12 schools. Founded in 1990 in Boston, Massachusetts, the organization is now headquartered in New York City and has an office of public policy based in Washington, D.C.

Hall v Durham Catholic School Board was a 2002 court case in which Marc Hall, a Canadian teenager, fought a successful legal battle against the Durham Catholic District School Board to bring a same-sex date to his high school prom. The case made Canadian and international headlines.

GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is a non-profit legal rights organization in the United States. The organization works to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression. The organization primarily achieves this goal through litigation, advocacy, and education work in all areas of LGBT rights and the rights of people living with HIV. In addition, GLAD operates a legal information line, GLAD Answers, where LGBTQ & HIV+ residents of New England can receive attorney referrals and information about their rights. The organization changed its name to GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders in February 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay–straight alliance</span> Student and community organizations which provide supportive environments for LGBT youth

A Gay–Straight Alliance, Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) or Queer–Straight Alliance (QSA) is a student-led or community-based organisation, found in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. These are primarily in the United States and Canada. Gay–straight alliance is intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and all (LGBTQ+) children, teenagers, and youth as well as their cisgender heterosexual allies. In middle schools and high schools, GSAs are overseen by a responsible teacher. The first GSAs were established in the 1980s. Scientific studies show that GSAs have positive academic, health, and social impacts on schoolchildren of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Numerous judicial decisions in United States federal and state court jurisdictions have upheld the establishment of GSAs in schools, and the right to use that name for them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egale Canada</span>

Egale Canada is an advocacy organization founded in 1986 by Les McAfee to advance equality for Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families, across Canada.

Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story is a Canadian television film, which aired on CTV in 2004. The film is about Marc Hall, a gay Canadian teenager whose legal fight to bring a same-sex date to his Catholic high school prom made headlines in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maulik Pancholy</span> American actor and author (born 1974)

Maulik Navin Pancholy is an American actor and author who is best known for his roles as Jonathan on 30 Rock, Baljeet Tjinder in Phineas and Ferb, Neal in the first season of Whitney, and as a character named Sanjay Patel in both Weeds and Sanjay and Craig. His debut novel, The Best at It, is about a gay, Indian American boy coming into his own. In 2022, he released Nikhil Out Loud, which tells the story of eighth grade theater kids rising up against homophobia in their community.

MassResistance is a group that promotes anti-LGBT and socially conservative positions. The group is designated an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, in part for claims linking LGBT people with pedophilia and zoophilia, and claims that suicide prevention programs aimed at gay youth were created by homosexual activists to normalize and "lure" children into homosexuality.

Research has found that attempted suicide rates and suicidal ideation among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) youth are significantly higher than among the general population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Jennings</span> American educator, author, and administrator.

Kevin Brett Jennings is an American educator, author, and administrator. He was the assistant deputy secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education from July 6, 2009 – June 2011.

<i>Fricke v. Lynch</i>

Fricke v. Lynch, 491 F. Supp. 381, was a decision in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island that upheld the right of Aaron Fricke to bring a same-sex date to a high school dance. The Court ruled that existing free speech doctrine protected gay and lesbian students' rights to attend their proms with same-sex dates of their choice. The case was "one of the first successful victories in the courtroom for an LGBT issue involving young people, and is routinely cited each year in numerous cases surrounding the rights of students to bring same-sex dates to school functions."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Itawamba County School District prom controversy</span>

The 2010 Itawamba County School District prom controversy took place in Itawamba County, Mississippi, and began when lesbian student Constance McMillen was refused permission to take her girlfriend to the Itawamba County Agricultural High School prom. As a result of a lawsuit brought against the school, the school canceled the prom. Parents were encouraged to organize a private prom, but they canceled it. A second private prom was organized and represented to be the official prom. Meanwhile, parents organized a secret prom to which McMillen was not invited and which most of the student body attended. The school district settled the lawsuit by agreeing to a payment to McMillen and adoption of a sexual orientation non-discrimination policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Growing American Youth</span> LGBT social support organization in Missouri, US

Growing American Youth is a social support organization for youth who live in or near St. Louis, Missouri, and who are 21 and under and identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual, or who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity. Growing American Youth has been serving St. Louis area youth since 1979.

<i>It Gets Better</i> (book)

It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living is a non-fiction compilation book, edited by Dan Savage and his husband, Terry Miller. It was published March 22, 2011 by Dutton. The book includes selections of essays inspired by the It Gets Better Project, founded by Savage. He decided to start the project after a series of incidents of suicide among LGBT youth. Individuals were encouraged to submit videos with a message of hope and optimism for teenagers who were victims of bullying due to their sexual orientation. Over 100 essays are contained in the book. Contributors include finance advisor Suze Orman; comedic writer David Sedaris; United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; and President of the United States Barack Obama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden State Equality</span>

Garden State Equality is a statewide advocacy and education organization in the U.S. state of New Jersey that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, including same-sex marriage.

<i>Nabozny v. Podlesny</i>

Nabozny v. Podlesny, 92 F.3d 446 was a case heard in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit regarding the protection of a school student in Ashland, Wisconsin, who had been harassed and bullied by classmates because of his sexual orientation. The plaintiff in the case—Jamie Nabozny—sought damages from school officials for their failure to protect him from the bullying. A jury found that this failure violated Nabozny's constitutional rights Nabozny settled the case for $962,000 in damages.

<i>Prom King, 2010</i> 2017 American film

Prom King, 2010 is a 2017 LGBT coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Christopher Schaap, in his directorial debut. It stars Schaap with Adam Lee Brown and Nicole Wood.

References

  1. ↑ ACLU: Who are you taking to the prom this year?
  2. ↑ Chicago Tribune: Private matters now get taken to the prom (payment required for full article)
  3. ↑ Boyer, David (2004). Kings and Queens. Boston: Soft Skull Press. pp. 64, 67. ISBN   978-1-932360-24-0. OCLC   56041942.
  4. ↑ ACLU: Free Speech, Free Expression and Prom Archived December 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Fricke, Aaron (1981). Reflections of a Rock Lobster: A Story about Growing Up Gay. Boston: Alyson Books. ISBN   978-0-932870-09-4. OCLC   7675638.
  6. ↑ Fricke, Aaron; Walter Fricke (1991). Sudden Strangers : the Story of a Gay Son and his Father . New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN   978-0-312-05869-2. OCLC   22951971.
  7. ↑ "Boston's Children's Theater: Reflections of a Rock Lobster". Archived from the original on 2013-03-01.
  8. ↑ Administrator. "LGBT Anti-Bullying Pioneer Aaron Fricke". www.outwordmagazine.com. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  9. ↑ San Francisco Public Library: AARON FRICKE PAPERS 1980-1991
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.