Anti-bullying bill seeks Safe Schools for All
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 at 9:13 am
- 9 Comments
Photo: Dierdre Conde, Flickr
“It started in middle school,” Gary Skarsten said, remembering a gay student he used to mentor from a town near Braham, Minn. “He was being taunted on the playground — being called a ‘fag,’ and that sort of thing.”
It’s an all-too-familiar story for many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or transsexual students or their parents – students being singled out and mercilessly harassed by other students because school administrators can’t, or won’t, act. A coalition of Minnesota LGBT advocacy groups is trying to keep this story from repeating with a bill that would require all schools to have anti-bullying policies that protect a broad range of youth, including LGBT students.
“The student [near Braham] would come home in tears; his parents didn’t know what to do – they tried everything with the school district,” said Skarsten, a member of the Cambridge, Minn., chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, known as PFLAG, and a gay rights advocate in north-central Minnesota.
When I met them for the first time [after this bullying had gone on for some time], they were in tears because nothing had worked.”
At one point, Skarsten said, the parents “feared for his [their son’s] life.”
Fed up with inaction by the school, they eventually pulled their son out of the district and sent him to a school in St. Cloud, about 35 miles away.
“The school administrators knew what was going on, because the parents had met with them several times. I think the problem was the district didn’t know how to deal with it,” said Skarsten.
Stephanie Hazen of the Minnesota advocacy group Rainbow Families says a number of school districts around the state are in a similar position, mainly because administrators may be confused about laws about bullying.
Districts tend to follow the lead of the statewide Association of School Boards in setting their anti-discrimination policies. The association in turn follows a statute requiring schools to have a “model policy” that includes sexual, racial and religious harassment (harassment is a legally recognized form of discrimination). The Minnesota Human Rights Act specifically protects citizens based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.
That’s why, she said, Rainbow Families is crafting the Safe Schools for All Bill in cooperation with OutFront, Minnesota’s biggest LGBT lobbying group, and state Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL- Minneapolis.
“The bill will essentially fix the ["model policy"] statute and broaden it beyond the Human Rights Act to include physical appearance,” as well as gender identity and sexual orientation, Hazen said. “Our research shows it’s the biggest reason a student gets bullied.”
Or, as Monica Meyer of OutFront put it, “You’ll be protected, even if you’ve got big ears.”
Hazen said she couldn’t speak on the legislation’s prospects once it’s introduced, as the bill’s wording was still being finalized.
Alan Horowitz of St. Paul Public Schools’ Out For Equity program said Safe Schools for All would give local advocates across Minnesota “resources to go to their school boards and community meetings and ask for policies” to protect LGBT students and students from LGBT families.
Both Minneapolis and St. Paul have long-standing policies protecting these students, he said, and have created offices to train teachers and administrators to deal with anti-LGBT bullying and help students educate their peers about what it’s like to be an LGBT student or to have LGBT parents.
“Because the issue is so new,” said Horowitz, “a lot of people don’t know what to do and are afraid to ask. The legislation has the potential to put vocabulary words in the law and be a conversation-starter.”
If you were to map the environment for young LGBT Minnesotans, the result would look like a patchwork quilt – some towns are fairly friendly, activists said, but in others it feels intimidating or even dangerous to be out.
“In small towns, it can all depend on one teacher or a principal who makes it their mission” to make the school welcoming, says Leigh Combs, the LGBT Kids Abuse and Prevention coordinator at Minneapolis-based Family and Children’s Service. “It’s different from town to town.”
Since the student Skarsten formerly advsied left his school for St. Cloud, he said, a number of district leaders havetried to improve the climate for LGBT students. But in Bemidji, said activist Cathy Perry, “as far as I can tell, we haveno ongoing, active support groups.”
“There are no GSAs [Gay-Straight Alliances] in the schools,” Perry said, ”and the area PFLAG group shut down a few years ago because they claimed a lack of interest. The only people who were coming to their meetings were gay or lesbian.”
“If no programs are being provided, if evangelical churches who see their sexuality is an abomination are so strong [in Bemidji], what do you think their life is like?” asked Perry, speaking about LGBT students.
Perry said she thinks Horowitz is being overly optimistic when he suggests the Safe Schools for All bill would give her fellow Bemidji activists much leverage. She predicts a “Minnesota Nice” reaction. “They’ll smile and say, ‘Thank you, we’ll address that and we have policies are addressing it,’” she said.
Language for the Safe Schools for All bill is being finalized, said Outfront’s Meyer, and it will be circulated for review “in a few days.” It’s hard to gauge its prospects should it hit Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s desk, although there’s promise because it requires no funding and targets not only LBGT students. But even if it does get passed, said Perry, “it would still be an uphill battle. We have no political allies here. No one on the school board, no one in the courts, no one on the City Council. Will they [the bill’s authors] have anyone who patrols and monitors it?”
While the bill may offer limited help in some communities, it certainly could have helped the student Skarsten advised, who is now doing well, albeit at a school a good drive from home. He’ll be graduating this year in St. Cloud, Skarsten said. His former high school will be putting on the “Laramie Project,” a play about the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepherd in 1998.
“We’ve got a long way to go yet,” Skarsten said. “And we’re taking it one step at a time.”
Photo: Dierdre Conde, Flickr
9 Comments
Comment posted February 3, 2009 @ 11:45 am
“Go confidently in the Direction of your Dreams.
Live the life you have Imagined.”
~Henry David Thoreau
There is a pinnacle necessity, to establish Diversity Education Curriculums in every Public School District, in order STOP the incessant, daily provocative persecution of GLBTI individuals, and/or anyone who are deemed “Different,” by the Bullying, Harassment, and Hate, of fellow student pariahs.
Anyone, who resorts to violence, and/or instigates others through prejudice, utilizing this as a method for a discriminatory agenda, abandoning civility, for a Neanderthal mentality, apparently lacks any sense of human compassion, fed by an arrogant, bias, & virulent mind.
Not pursuing the implementation for these types of curriculums in our school’s, are only encouraging an open environment of anxiety, frustration, lack of learning, and the ultimate option, for suicide.
Denying Unequivocal Equality, along with Basic Human, and Civil Rights inclusion, for those labeled as being “Different” within our society, is Unconscionable, & Unacceptable.
Victims of violence, hatred, discrimination, bias, and unprogressive judgment, must never be subjected too, and/or segregated as isolated entities, for the same inalienable liberties, from those who fervently pursue identical freedoms!
Peace, Unequivocal Equality, & Solidarity ~
Dr. Mekah Gordon, Ph.D.
Pioneering, Frontier Renaissance Woman, & Visionary
Human Rights Advocate/Activist – Educator/Consultant – Freelance Writer-TG Issues – Former Santa Fe Regional Editor for the Southwest LGBT Press Newspaper – Member of the NMSPC {New Mexico Suicide Prevention Coalition}, Recipient, of the prestige’s, “2007 Commitment to Care Award” from the Alliance for Gender Awareness – Full membership World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Formerly known as the Harry Benjamin Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA), Former Executive Director – Emerald City Foundation (501c3 non-profit), Division of RainbowVision Properties, Santa Fe.
Founder/CEO ~
S. U. R. E. Foundation®
SUREducation@aol.com
ReferencesView
22 Juego Rd.
Santa Fe, NM 87508-4298
505-466-4277
*In order to achieve the same rights, without compromise, there are NO other options, than Unequivocal Equality.
~ Mekah Gordon
*The word, “Tolerance,” no matter how you bend it, twist it, or turn it inside out,”Reeks” of Discrimination.
“RESPECT,” however, eradicates implicitness for bigotry, hate, bias, & prejudice.
~Mekah Gordon
*No One on this planet, should ever have, or be granted the power, right, nor stand in judgment, of anyone’s Basic Human Civil Rights, by enforcing through Constitutional Decree, or otherwise, whom one should love, and marry, NO ONE!
~Mekah Gordon
*It’s the Tenacity, Persistence, Fortitude, & Faith, that’s perennial, in those of us, who refuse to give up, in our pursuit for Unequivocal Equality, & Basic Human Civil Rights.
~Mekah Gordon
*Transitionally Speaking: Quotes, From a Pioneering, Frontier Renaissance Woman
© 2009 Mekah Gordon, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved
Comment posted February 3, 2009 @ 1:07 pm
“Denying Unequivocal Equality, along with Basic Human, and Civil Rights inclusion, for those labeled as being “Different” within our society, is Unconscionable, & Unacceptable.”
Unequivocal Equality? Really?
So, the good doctor would have us believe that there is *nothing* that should be deemed intolerable, or even unworthy of our *respect*?
Well, I’m sure there are legions of pedophiles, pederasts, kleptomaniacs, alcoholics, drug addicts, peepers, creepers and other reprobates that are very happy to have Mekah out there blazing their trails.
Wow. Just wow.
Pingback posted February 4, 2009 @ 9:49 pm
[...] Rainbow Families and OutFront are currently drafting the Safe Schools for All Bill. This bill would afford students protection on the basis of sexual orientation and gender [...]
Comment posted February 9, 2009 @ 10:47 am
Dear Iceycle ~
“Well, I’m sure there are legions of pedophiles, pederasts, kleptomaniacs, alcoholics, drug addicts, peepers, creepers and other reprobates that are very happy to have Mekah out there blazing their trails.”
Which category do you fit into?
“So, the good doctor would have us believe that there is *nothing* that should be deemed intolerable, or even unworthy of our *respect*?”
I believe your comment does not deserve any respect, since I’m sure it’s derived from an unprogressive mind and twisted interpretation.
But hey, that’s the qualifications for anyone who believes in a Fascist Society based on Religious terrorist tactics of intolerance.
Melting, the “Ice.”
Dr. Mekah Gordon, Ph.D.
Comment posted April 15, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
To be honest – I don’t know if this problem (and it *is* a problem) requires more legislation. Existing laws and statutes provide for protection already – rewording or expanding legislation won’t fix it – all it will do is create more laws in an already litigious society. I think a better approach would be to: A. Enforce the laws that already exist. B. Educate the schools on these laws so they can better be in compliance and assist affected individuals – a school that “does not know what to do” in these cases is basically copping out. I can guarantee if these students were victims of racial slurs, the school would have been all over it . . .
Just my two cents . . .
Comment posted April 19, 2009 @ 1:57 pm
New Mexico’s Attorney General, needs to hold Religious Institutions accountable, by revoking their tax-exempt status, when they consistently and illegally interfere with their inappropriate and substantial lobbying activities, as nonprofit agencies.
By claiming nonprofit status, an organization must not be a party to, as either supporting and/or censuring legislation, including soliciting for any political candidates, whatsoever!
To do so, is in direct violation of the Internal Revenues Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations, thereby revoking the privilege of being a nonprofit agency.
As stated on page 6 of the Tax Guide, “A church or religious organization will be regarded as attempting to influence legislation if it contacts, or urges the public to contact, members or employees of a legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation, or if the organization advocates the adoption or rejection of legislation.”
Dr. Mekah Gordon, Ph.D.
President/CEO
S. U. R. E. Foundation
Comment posted April 19, 2009 @ 1:59 pm
Unlawful Religious interference, sank domestic-partnership bill
Religion’s agenda is used to divide, not provide! A lawful precedence must be established within all public and political domains to enforce the constitutional edict for the separation of church and state, without the deliberate interference of religious zealots. Their mean-spirited addiction to selfishly writing the “rules” for a 21st-century free society must come to an end!
Why do certain followers of the Christian faith revel in their unprogressive and provocative attacks toward human beings who interpret life as a series of free choices, rather than as blind adherence to another’s moral agenda?
Who are they to judge others? Are their lives more admirable than those they criticize? How is their devotion to this religious belief substantially justified?
Christianity was established to embrace the teachings of acceptance and love by Jesus. However, in spite of everything he stood for, these “devotees” are still blind and void of compassion, understanding, sensitivity and respect for diversity.
Instead of pointing a pious judgmental finger, as well as voting against and denying basic human civil rights to every United States citizen, I’d suggest they focus on eliminating the malignant immorality within their own flocks. They can begin by recognizing that the Vatican has been suppressing the numerous prolongations of child abuse by priests in churches throughout the world, silently “paying off” the victims who had the courage to come forward. To date, the Vatican has settled lawsuits pertaining to sexual child abuse at over a billion dollars. In order to cover up the appalling mental anguish suffered by innocent children, past and present, inflicted by these sinister priestly pedophiles, the Vatican shamefully devised to condemn an entire diverse community, hoping to avoid an enormous internal scandal.
The hypocritical, unkind, self-serving and perverse drive to rid some people of their rights is indicative of the Vatican’s voracious appetite for power and control!
As United States citizens, taxpayers, contributors to society, veterans, and first and foremost, human beings, we should never have to “ask” for equality! We must act to stop religious interference as manifested in unconscionable and venomous discriminatory dictatorial agenda’s, that prevent anyone deemed “different” from acquiring all the freedoms they’re entitled to as citizens of the United States.
Mekah Gordon, Ph.D. is a human rights advocate and founder of S.U.R.E. Foundation.
She lives in Santa Fe.
Pingback posted May 19, 2009 @ 12:13 pm
[...] a victory for anti-bullying advocates: the Safe Schools for All Bill passed the Minnesota House by a wide margin (95-39), after passing the Senate earlier this month. [...]
Pingback posted May 26, 2009 @ 3:37 pm
[...] I highlighted in a story for the Minnesota Independent in February, the state’s current “model policy” only protects students from [...]
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