WYOMING

FIRST AMENDMENT - SAME-SEX COUPLES
In 2003, the ACLU stepped in to help same-sex couples at a Homecoming dance in Big Piney, Wyoming.  There, two girls - both heterosexual - listed each other as dates in hopes of clearing the way for lesbian and gay couples to feel comfortable coming to dances together.  Instead, the two young women were met at the doors by police officers and were not permitted to enter the dance.  Shortly after receiving a letter from the ACLU of Wyoming, the school district amended its policy and announced that students can safely bring same-sex dates to all future dances.  The ACLU's letter cited a Rhode Island case, Fricke v. Lynch, which states that students not only have a First Amendment right to bring same-sex dates, but that schools must take steps to ensure their safety when they do so.