ACLU Threatens Legal Action Over Cheer Leading Awards

KENOSHA, WI–The American Civil Liberties Union is raising concerns about a cheerleaders’ awards banquet from a year ago. In a letter to the Kenosha Unified School District, the ACLU took aim at awards handed out to several students at the March 2018 Tremper High School cheer leading event, which at least one parent-and Kenosha Unified official- deemed to be body shaming.

However, according to the ACLU, the coach in charge of the event was not disciplined and instead invited back to work with the team this year. The awards had degrading names based on a girl’s physical attributes or personality traits. The ACLU says that the awards violate federal “Title Nine” protections prohibiting discrimination based on sex.

The organization says they want all KUSD employees-including all teachers and coaches-to undergo mandatory anti-harassment training.

The ACLU official statement here: https://www.aclu.org/blog/womens-rights/womens-rights-education/wisconsin-school-district-shrugged-after-high-school