Republicans Block Student Anti-Discrimination Legislation

By Kyle Harris

Sissy. Faggot. Tranny. Dyke. Bullies launch these words like grenades and terrorize LGBT and LGBT-perceived youth with kicks, punches, and sexual assault often thrown into the mix.

Unfortunately, there is no federal law preventing students and teachers from discriminating against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity. None of them are a protected class.

And young people are dying because of it.

The stats are familiar: Suicide rates in LGBT youth are more than double the rates of their heterosexual and cis-gender peers. The Centers for Disease Control reports: “Negative attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual people put these youth at increased risk for experiences with violence, compared with other students. Violence can include behaviors such as bullying, teasing, harassment, physical assault, and suicide-related behaviors.”

Bullied kids need protection. Homophobic/transphobic bullying needs to stop. Lives depend on it. Seems like a no brainer, right?

So says House Representative Jared Polis. That’s why he’s championed the Student Non- Discrimination Act. Again. And again. His most recent failed attempt has been to attach it to the Student Success Act, a bill the House Education and Workforce Committee was considering on Feb. 10. The controversial bill is designed to reform No Child Left Behind.

“SNDA would provide federal protection to prevent bullying against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender kids and kids perceived to be [LGBT]. It would give schools a way to address bullying and discrimination,” Polis says.

“Every day, students who [either are, or are perceived to be LGBT] are subject to harassment, bullying, intimidation, and violence,” Polis told the committee.

“It’s harmful for the kids. It’s [detrimental to] creating a public education system that truly serves all learners. Surveys indicate that as many as nine- in-ten LGBT students have been bullied. While federal civil- rights statutes explicitly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, or national origin, they don’t include sexual orientation or gender identity.”

To Polis, SNDA seemed like a good addition to the Student Success Act. “It would provide federal protection and give schools a way to address bullying and discrimination,” Polis says.

The bullies’ arsenal would shrink; LGBT youth would be protected from discrimination. Schools would have safer environments for learning. A clear win for all. Easy vote.