A little while ago, I wrote about anti-gay bullying and homophobia, and how the effects of both are physically and mentally damaging to the lives of gay people. The conclusion: gay bullying is not a “fact of life,” and it needs to stop. And well, we’re in luck- because it soon may be a thing of the past.
GET READY FOR SOME EXCITING UPDATES!
Even though the government in the U.S. might be blowing up a little bit over things like abortion, money, and blah, blah, blah, it appears that some Senators still have it in them. The proof? The re-introduction of The Safe Schools Improvement Act, a piece of legislation addressing bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Tuesday. Still not convinced? The bill has bipartisan support. You heard that right! The bill’s lead sponsors are both Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, and Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican.
The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has endorsed the measure – and so have their member schools.
Casey sponsored this bill last session, but it never made it out of committee. Representative Linda Sanchez in California is expected to introduce a companion bill in the House soon. She did this last session as well.
The act requires schools and districts to adopt codes of conflict that prevent anti-gay bullying (among bullying motivated by other factors) and to report data on bullying to the Department of Education. The schools required to participate are, of course, those receiving federal funds (sorry Catholics!) and the data will go straight to Congress via the DoE.
And as if having administrators forcibly on your side, the moms are coming around, too! A badass mom, Elvira Diaz, who has a transgendered child, testified on behalf of Nevada State Senate bill SB-180, which expands liability for some crimes to include motivation by gender expression. I love you so I am giving you the video of her emotional and beautiful speech right here.
