The NYC Department of Education (DOE) wrongfully blocks websites containing LGBTQ+ and sexual health information.

The Wikipedia page "LGBT Rights in Egypt", a topic that should be as available as information on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, is blocked on NYC school computers. So are website about STI preventation and proper condom usage.

The official DOE "Internet Acceptable Use and Safety Policy (IAUSP)" states that it protects minors from content including "pornography, obscene material, and other material that may be harmful to minors. The Department may also block or filter other content deemed to be inappropriate, lacking educational or work-related content or that pose a threat to the network." Information about LGBTQ+ rights, people, or culture is in no way obscene or dangerous for anyone. To be LGBTQ+ is not to be "obscene", it's a sexual or gender identity. Information about sexual health is not "obscene", it's important for the safety of students. These facts are present in the Health Class curriculum, so should be available to students online. Therefore, this content blockage is a gross violation of students' rights to information and an example of the bigotry that fuels the anti-LGBTQ+ rights movement and the negative, unhealthy stigma surrounding sex.

We'll be sending the signature count to the NYC DOE, Schools Chancellor Farina, and the Federal Communications Commission to make this change.