The Utah Legislature is considering new rules for school clubs again, and while critics cited several reasons why changes aren't needed, there's also concern that a thinly veiled focus on Gay Straight Alliance chapters could spell legal trouble.

Supporters outnumbered critics Tuesday, though, and the House Education Committee voted 11-4 to send the bill to the full House of Representatives.

The sponsor, Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, said the legislation would:

require parental consent for participation in all noncurricular clubs

allow parents to review material seven days in advance of its presentation at a club function

put the rules in the state code so that if a school district is sued, the attorney general's office would defend the district.

"Most of the rules about a noncurricular club are actually in rules, not statute," Tilton said. "If a lawsuit is brought, it is up to the school district to defend that lawsuit."

Some people supporting the bill want to defend schools against chapters of the Gay Straight Alliance, which has clubs in several Utah public schools.

Provo High School had a GSA club, but only for a few months during the 2005-06 school year.

"It appears that when the group got attention, there was interest, but when the attention waned, the interest did likewise," said Sam Ray, the school's principal.

Jose Enriquez, the school's assistant principal, said that the club hadn't filed a petition this year and that the club had just died out.

Although there is no official GSA club at Provo High, the group of students who first started the club still maintain a MySpace group, which has more than 60 members.

"These clubs are in opposition to community values," said Steve Graham, founder of Standard of Liberty, a conservative nonprofit organization based in Utah County.

"The existence of gay clubs or any clubs that deal with human sexuality -- and don't tell me that Gay Straight Alliance doesn't indicate human sexuality -- those clubs not only influence the kids who are in it, but all the kids in the school, to prematurely label themselves and to experiment sexually."

People involved in GSA chapters have said that the clubs exist to plan service projects and discuss topics such as tolerance and discrimination. State law already bars school clubs from discussing human sexuality.

Margaret Plane, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, said it's a slippery slope to base opposition to a group on its name.

Take, for example, the Future Homemakers of America, she said.

"By talking about future homemakers, you're talking about marrying, you're talking about having children, you're talking about raising a family. And that's important and vital," she said.

"But in the same way that you were suggesting that Gay Straight Alliance maybe involves human sexuality, so too would a club like the Future Homemakers of America."

No one on the committee questioned the merits of parental consent, but other parts of the bill raised concerns -- for example, a lengthy application process that would be required to start a club.

That includes preparing a budget, a constitution and bylaws, scheduling every meeting time and place, and specifying how officers are selected, said Will Carlson of Equality Utah -- which may be unrealistic for students.

"Extracurricular clubs must do this every year," he said. "There are years when the Legislature hasn't been able to get a budget together."

Carol Lear of the state Office of Education said the state board of education had classified the bill as "unnecessary."

School districts are insured against lawsuits, and the current rules governing student clubs have been in place for about a decade and allow districts flexibility and local control, she said.

"Tintic School District, with its 200-plus students, can have a different policy than Granite School District," Lear said. "Park City, in its own unique character, can have a different policy than San Juan School District."

Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville, said he supported the bill because "I'm not convinced that this bill goes that much further beyond the current rule."

And Rep. Sylvia Andersen, R-Sandy, said the bill's parental consent provisions are important.

"I don't think this bill speaks only to parental involvement," she said. "I think it speaks to parental rights, which is far more important than parental involvement."

Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Salt Lake City, said her initial read of the bill found only a "burdensome" student club application process. The fact that a specific club appears to be targeted should raise red flags, she said.

"I wouldn't necessarily have thought of it as an attempt to ban the Gay Straight Alliance," Moss said. "It's only been as a result of the testimony ... that makes it clear that in many people's minds, that is the sole purpose for this bill. That becomes a concern."

Daily Herald reporter Brooke Barker contributed to this story.

HB 236, Student Clubs Amendments, Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville

Encodes a process for approving and overseeing school clubs in state law and includes a requirement that parents consent for student participation in noncurricular clubs.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.