Nebraska school officials close newspaper after LGBTQ issue

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Administrators of a Nebraska public school have shuttered the school’s award-winning student newspaper, just days after its last edition that included articles and editorials on LGBTQ issues. The Grand Island Independent reports Northwest Public Schools’ Saga newspaper staff were informed on May 19 of the paper’s elimination. The newspaper had printed its June edition, highlighting Pride Month, on May 16. District officials have not said when or why the decision was made to eliminate the student paper, but a May 22 email from a school employee cancelling the paper’s printing services said it was “because the school board and superintendent are unhappy with the last issue’s editorial content.” Press freedom advocates are calling the move an act of censorship.