Franken, Colorado’s Polis introduce anti-bullying legislation

Sen. Al Franken and Rep. Jared Polis, D-CO, held a press conference Thursday to announce the reintroduction of legislation that would help protect public school students from bullying, harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Also attending the press conference were Wendy Walsh, whose 13-year-old son, Seth, took his own life after being bullied at school and Ellen Kahn from the Human Rights Campaign.

“Education is the right of every student regardless of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Rep. Polis, who praised Franken for his leadership on the issue. “It becomes more apparent with each case that this is a problem that is not going away–sometimes even teachers and administrators contribute to the problem. The alarming increase in teen suicides has shown us just how far we are from making our children’s schools safe spaces. We must take action to protect the safety of our students and enshrine the values of equality and opportunity in our classrooms. 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.”

“Unchecked bullying of LGBT students is unacceptable,” said Sen. Franken. “The high suicide rate for LGBT youth — as witnessed across the country over the past year—shows that we are falling drastically short in our efforts to protect our kids. I’m committed to passing this legislation to ensure that all of our children know that they’re safe in their schools and have someone to turn to.”

Franken told of the suicide of openly gay Anoka-Hennepin School District student Justin Aaberg in discussing the act, which he says “could literally save lives.”

“Yesterday, Justin Aaberg from Minnesota should have celebrated his 16th birthday with family and friends,” he said. “But instead, I know that his family and friends were missing him terribly — are still missing him terribly.”

Rep. Polis and Sen. Franken first introduced the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) in 2010. Currently, the bill has 27 cosponsors in the Senate and 99 cosponsors in the House. The bill would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition against discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. It would also forbid schools from discriminating against LGBT students or ignoring harassing behavior. Modeled after Title IX, violation of SNDA would result in the loss of federal funding and give victims a legal cause of action for discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

Here are Franken’s remarks followed by Walsh’s moving statement: