PITTSBURGH -- A group that promotes what it calls traditional family values is criticizing a club for gay students at a northwestern Pennsylvania high school, saying the club's agenda could lead to discrimination against other students, particularly those with strong religious convictions.

The Gay-Straight Alliance, started at McDowell High School in Erie last fall, placed stickers emblazoned with pink triangles on certain classroom doors, designating those areas as "safe zones" for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual students, or anyone seeking help or advice.

School officials said all classrooms should be considered safe, and the stickers have been removed, but the American Family Association of Pennsylvania says the Gay-Straight Alliance's efforts may result in certain students being granted special protections not afforded to others.

Take the "safe zone" designation, for example, says Diane Gramley, director of the state AFA. It's not uncommon, she says, for students to tease their classmates because of their height, weight, complexion, but the safe zones were created specifically for gay students and not for others.

"Why not give safe zones to other students who do not fit in or who are being picked on?" she said.

Millcreek Township Solicitor Timothy M. Sennett said the stickers came down last month, by which time students had begun the summer break.

Maureen Koseff, the leader of the Erie-Crawford County Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, which sometimes advises the student group, called the club an important step to making students feel safer. Gay students are targets for bullies, and the harassment can make them feel isolated and sometimes suicidal, Koseff said.

"If it's an agenda when you are trying to secure equal rights for all people, then she can go right ahead and call it an agenda," Koseff said.

Last April, a McDowell High student participating in the "Day of Silence" _ an annual event at schools nationwide in which demonstrators refrain from talking to promote tolerance of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered students _ was cornered and taunted for most of the day, she said.

"These kids are really courageous," Koseff said. "I would have advised them to try and change the harassment policy at their school and they took on the whole district."

Gramley's group accuses PFLAG of using the high school group to push its political agenda, and has asked the district to find out where all student clubs get materials, guidance or donations. Koseff said the club is not a PFLAG subsidiary and district rules require students to establish any club on their own.

The AFA is still battling a decision by the school board in May to change its harassment policy to bar discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation and gender identity." The Gay-Straight Alliance had lobbied for the change, which came after the district received a letter from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, encouraging administrators to make sure their policies were inclusive.

Steve Crampton, with the America Family Association for Law and Policy, the legal arm of the state AFA's parent group, argues that the new policy could be used to violate free speech and stifle open discussions about homosexuality. He said statements by students about their own religious or moral beliefs could be considered harassment.

"It might make me feel threatened if I'm told I'm doing something wrong, or what I'm doing is sinful, but the other person has a right to say it," Crampton said.

The Associated Press could not immediately reach members of the club because school is out for the summer and school officials would not release members' names.

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On the Net:

American Family Association of Pennsylvania, http://www.afanwpa.org/