The lawsuit cites the cancellation of a student production of “Rent” over its gay characters and a Facebook video in which football players at the school threaten a female student.

Court papers filed by the ACLU in Orange County Superior Court run 36 pages, claiming discrimination at the school violates federal and state equal protection provisions.

“School and district officials, through their action and inaction, have not only failed to take steps to address this hostile environment, but they have contributed to it and given sanction to it,” the suit alleges.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District said the lawsuit contains factual errors. 

In the video three members of the football team threaten to rape and kill the teenage girl.  The ACLU claims the school did little to punish the teen player or to protect the girl – even after her parents repeatedly expressed concerns about her safety.

In February, drama advisor Ron Martin complained that principal Fal Asrani ordered him to drop “Rent” because of its gay characters. The play was reinstated later in the month following media coverage of the controversy.

The lawsuit alleges that homophobia is rampant at the school.  It complains that teachers and student use gay slurs and quotes one student as saying the principal voiced opposition to gay marriage during an English class.

The ACLU is seeking damages, a filing process at the school for discrimination complaints, the establishment of diversity training for staff and students and a schoolwide survey of attitudes towards sexism and homophobia.

The homophobic harassment and bullying at the school typifies a rise in hostility toward LGBT students throughout California in the wake of the divisive campaign over Proposition 8, which eliminated the right of lesbians and gay men to marry, the ACLU said in a statement.

“The threats, intimidation and slurs directed toward students on the basis of gender and sexual orientation at Corona del Mar High School are part of a growing sexist and homophobic environment there that school administrators could have – and should have – stopped,” said Hector Villagra, director of the Orange County office of the ACLU. 

“Instead, these school officials amplified the hostile atmosphere by sending the message that the harassers can act with impunity, and by telling students who were the targets of threats and bullying that they would have to find ways to avoid it.”

Earlier this month drama advisor Ron Martin complained that principal Fal Asrani ordered him to drop “Rent” because of its gay characters.

“Rent” tells the story of a group of struggling artists in New York City, several of whom are gay.

Asrani disputed Martin’s claim of censorship, saying she only asked to see the script.

Now in a statement released by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Asrani said “I never had a problem with the play selected.”

“The selection of our drama productions is [Martin's] call. I just requested the opportunity to review the script before it was final. [The school] administration received parent concerns from a previous play and I wanted to be able to ensure my commitment to the concerned parents as well as show my support of the student production without any reservation,” the statement said.

Martin said he is grateful but the events leading up to statement remain a matter of dispute between him and Asrani.

According to Martin, Asrani was concerned about homosexuality and prostitution in the play and asked for a copy of the script. Martin said he told her that he was using an abridged school version of the play and there was no prostitution in it. He also says he told Asrani that he did not have a copy of the script. He said she then canceled the production.

Asrani says she asked for a copy of the play and that is a common practice, and she confirms Martin told her he did not yet have one.  Still, Asrani maintains the decision to cancel the show was Martin’s.

When Martin went public accusing Asrani of censorship the story was featured prominently in both the mainstream and gay media as well as in blogs.

When the show appeared off Martin said he would stage the musical “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” but also ordered a rush copy of the high school version of “Rent.”  When the “Rent” script arrived he gave it to Asrani.

The students’ production of “Rent” will go up in April.

Drama advisor Ron Martin tells the Los Angeles Times that principal Fal Asrani ordered him to drop “Rent” because of its gay characters.  Asrani disputes Martin’s claim.  She says she only asked to see the script.

“Rent” tells the story of a group of struggling artists in New York City, several of whom are gay.

Martin tells The Times that he chose the story to teach tolerance after hearing students use gay slurs.

“My responsibility as a drama teacher is to expose my students to a variety of different types of plays,” Martin told The Times.

He also said that he removed a portion of the script that showed a sex scene between two of the gay characters and that he discussed the production with Asrani before assigning it.

Further, he asserts that at a recent meeting with Martin and a representative from the teachers union, Asrani said the production could not go on and that she needed to review the script because of “prostitution and homosexuality.” There is no prostitution in the musical.

Asrani tells The Times she did not order the play cancelled and never received a copy of the script.

Dana Black, president of the Newport-Mesa Board of Education, said that the district does not shy away from edgy subject matter, and, “we don’t want anybody feeling alienated.”

In the meantime, Martin said he replaced “Rent” with “Charlie Brown” because it “is safe.”

Last week I went to see a production of Stupid Kids. You know, the John C. Russell play about four kids in a 1980s American high school that has been produced and re-produced over and over again in most major American cities since its premier in 1989. The play’s story is familiar, at least for me: a whole lot of angst in school bathrooms, falling in love with your best friend over and over again and not really understanding what is going on, writing bad poetry you contemplate showing the object of your affection only to tear it up and hide it under the bed.

The play really is cathartic. Trust me.

But what struck me about this production was the presence of four high school students in the cast. They had been added to throw a contemporary spin on the whole production. I was amazed at the opportunity these kids had. They were in high school, in a play about confronting one’s sexuality in high school. Now, there are some kids who are not troubled by the sometimes horrifying act of “coming out.”

Well, their compadres in Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach will have no such luck.

A sanitized version of Rent created for high school drama programs has been closed at the school because the principal was worried about the gay content. The general edit already took out all same-sex contact so the gay content Principal Asrani is worried about is the presence of gay characters.

Because this is a high school, free speech arguments are harder to make. And because this is a play that has already been switched out with “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,” even a winning argument is unlikely to change things much for these students.

What saddens me is that these kinds of plays provide solace for so many kids who are struggling with their sexuality. It also helps their classmates understand what is happening to some of their friends and to sympathize with those brave enough and sorted out enough to come out early. These little things, high school plays, a lesson about Stonewall in history class, posters about gay friendly language in the halls, these are the things that actually reach the target audience and have a chance of curbing the alarming suicide rate amongst gay teens.

Broadway said goodbye Sunday to “Rent,” 12 years and 5,124 performances after it first became a rock musical with a message for theatergoers of all ages.

“Like we did when we opened, we dedicate this performance to Jonathan Larson,” said actor Adam Kantor, referring to the man who wrote the show’s book, music and lyrics.

Then “Rent” was off and running toward its final curtain that had the last cast as well as members of its original company together on stage at the end of the evening to sing an electric version of “Seasons of Love,” one of the show’s best-known songs.

“There’s mixed emotions, but it’s time,” said Allan S. Gordon, one of its producers, talking about the closing.

The show, book was born off-Broadway in triumph and tragedy. Larson died of an aortic aneurism after its final dress rehearsal in January 1996. He was 35.

“It was the most shocking thing,” Gordon recalled. “I still can’t believe Jonathan is dead. All you need is one (big hit), and he had that. I don’t miss what he didn’t write. I feel bad that he isn’t here to enjoy what he did.”

Larson’s tale of free-spirited artists and street people in a gritty drug- and AIDS-plagued East Village of the early 1990s touched several generations.

Rave reviews propelled “Rent” to Broadway where the musical opened the following April at the Nederlander Theatre, a house often shunned by producers because it was on the wrong side of 42nd Street.

The show, inspired by Puccini’s “La Boheme,” found a ready-made audience in young people. Its fanatical supporters were nicknamed “Rentheads,” and many of them saw the show after the musical instituted a same-day, front-row ticket price of $20. The plan proved so popular that it was changed to a lottery format to accommodate the demand.

Yet the show’s fans were more than just young theatergoers.

“It’s 80 percent the traditional audience,” Gordon explained. “‘Rent’ was not defined by age. It attracted a wide spectrum of people. People of all ages love it. That’s why it survived.”

Survived and thrived – winning Tonys, Obies and the Pulitzer Prize for drama as well as grossing more than $280 million during its Broadway run. Millions more were made from national tours and foreign productions that performed on six continents. A film version, using much of the original cast, was released in 2005.

All Broadway shows have a finite life, a beginning and, no matter how successful, an end. Even “Cats” closed, and, one day, so will “The Phantom of the Opera.” But what made “Rent” stand out and be embraced by so many people?

“In my mind, it’s simply the message,” said Gwen Stewart, a member of the original cast and the performer who came back for the final performances.

“‘Rent’ speaks to people’s hearts,” Stewart said. “There is a universal truth that I think everyone can identity with: Living today to the fullest because you don’t know if tomorrow will be promised to you. Live. Love. Laugh. We have all gone through loss. Not necessarily AIDS-related, but everyone loses someone at some point.”

Rodney Hicks, another original cast member, agrees.

“‘Rent’ is about love and learning how to love – under whatever circumstance,” he said. “And learning how to accept that love. And loving unconditionally. The commonality in the show is the universal language of love that everyone can relate to. That’s why the show has translated so well into other languages, into other countries.”

Hicks, who first met Larson in 1995 when he was 21, had a small role in the original production and says he grew up with the show. Now he is back in the musical, in a bigger part, portraying Benjamin J. Coffin the landlord, the role originated by Taye Diggs.

“I had always wanted to play Benny,” he recalled. “At the time, I looked like I was 14, 15 years old. When you are 21, you don’t realize how young you actually look – or are. … Now, at 34, I’m actually old enough to play the character.”

Hicks said Sunday’s closing gives the Broadway production “a feeling of completeness.”

But it’s not the end of “Rent,” according to Gordon.

Another tour starts in January for some 30 weeks with several members of the original cast. Plus a new cinecast of “Rent,” filmed in High-Definition video by Sony Pictures during the musical’s last performances, will be shown in movie theaters in the United States and Canada for four days (Sept. 24-25 and Sept. 27-28). Check http://www.thehotticket.net/rent for locations.

“‘Rent’ is recorded for history, so it’s not like it’s disappearing off the map,” Gordon said. “Hmmm, maybe I should bring back a revival next year.”