Out Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colo. ) introduced a bill last week that seeks to protect LGBT students from antigay harassment, the first federal measure of its kind.
Polis submitted the Student Non-Discrimination Act Jan. 27 with 60 cosponsors, including Pennsylvania Reps. Bob Brady (D-1st Dist.) and Mike Doyle (D-14th Dist.).
The federal bill would ban discrimination against students in public schools based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
Polis noted in a statement last week that, while students who face discrimination because of their race or other characteristics often have legal recourse, those targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity have few options.
“Like Title VI for minorities in the ’60s and Title IX for women in the ’70s, my legislation puts LGBT students on an equal footing with their peers, so they can attend school and get a quality education, free from fear,” he said.
In addition to prohibiting discrimination against students because of their orientation or identity, the legislation would also ban harassment of students who associate themselves with the targeted youth.
According to the bill, schools that refuse to comply could lose their federal funding.
A survey of Pennsylvania students released last year by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network found that about 88 percent of the youth included had been verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation, and 52 percent reported the bullying turned physical. A study published last week by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital found that LGBT youth are two to three times more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to face bullying.
“Every day, innocent students fall victim to relentless harassment and discrimination from teachers, staff and fellow students based on their sexual orientation,” Polis said. “These actions not only hurt our students and our schools but, left unchecked, can also lead to life-threatening violence.”
Carrie Jacobs, executive director of The Attic Youth Center, said center’s young visitors often share stories of the bullying they face in the classroom.
“Schools have consistently been hostile environments for youth,” Jacobs said. “Kids receive the brunt of the ignorance and negative attitudes of both adults and young people within their schools, and while some schools have made progress, this harassment is still prevalent and its effects are far-reaching. Kids will reflect back on it and remember with a great deal of pain how they were bullied, tortured or abused in school because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Currently, 14 states and Washington, D.C., have laws prohibiting bullying based on sexual orientation, and 10 of those jurisdictions also offer gender-identity protections.
Pennsylvania currently does not have an anti-bullying law, but Equality Advocates Pennsylvania announced last month that such legislation will be introduced in the state legislature this spring and will be inclusive of LGBT students.
SNDA, which was referred to the Education and Labor Committee, has received the endorsement of a variety of LGBT-rights groups, as well as mainstream organizations like the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Women’s Law Center and the School Social Work Association of America.
Jacobs noted that when The Attic was getting off the ground in the mid 1990s, then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich was championing an effort to withhold federal funds from schools that “promote homosexuality.” She said SNDA represents the progress the country has made in terms of LGBT youth, but added that continued education on the issue is necessary regardless of the bill’s passage.
“This is definitely an important step in moving forward and it’s long overdue. When you do things like this, enforcement will be an issue, but even greater than that is continually working on changing attitudes,” Jacobs said. “It’s a great thing that needs to happen, but many of these issues will take a lot of time to work through. But I’m encouraged, and hopefully in time this will make a difference for these kids.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].