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Loading ...Anti-bullying bill advances in NC
05.06.2009 4:00pm EDT
(Raleigh, North Carolina) Tough anti-bullying legislation is headed for a final vote in the North Carolina Senate, despite efforts by conservatives to strip out protections for LGBT students.
The bill received preliminary approval in the Senate on Tuesday on a 25-22 vote. It must go through a second vote before being sent to the House.Supporters of the bill believe they have enough support for passage. A similar bill died in the legislature last year.
The legislation covers race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity. It would require any school employee who witnesses or knows of harassment or bullying to report the incident to school officials.
The inclusion of sexuality and gender identity was strongly opposed by conservative lawmakers and activist groups.
North Carolina’s two Roman Catholic bishops denounced the bill as a prelude to legalizing same-sex marriage.
The Christian Action League of North Carolina urged its members to call or send e-mail to their senators telling them to vote against the measure. And the Family Policy Council of North Carolina said that if the bill passed it would lead to the expansion of the state’s hate crime law and anti-discrimination laws to cover gays.
But supporters of the bill pointed to a growing number of students in other states who were bullied because fellow students thought they were gay.
There have been at least four suicide of middle-school aged children linked to homophobic bullying according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
Carl Walker-Hoover, an 11-year-old from Springfield, Mass., took his life April 6 after enduring constant bullying at school, including anti-LGBT attacks. Carl did not identify as gay.
Also last month, the parents of a Mentor, Ohio, high school student filed a federal lawsuit in connection with their son’s suicide. Eric Mohat, 17, went home from school on March 27, 2007, put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
In a federal lawsuit, his parents allege that he regularly “was called ‘gay,’ ‘fag,’ ‘queer’ and ‘homo’ among other names” and that the school did nothing to prevent it.
A 2007 study by GLSEN of more than 6,000 LGBT students found that nearly nine out of 10 LGBT youth reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation, nearly half reported being physically harassed and about a quarter reported being physically assaulted.
The conservative bullys are trying to strip anti-bully provisions for LGBT people…how fitting.
These people are looking real foolish lately even in the South. They keep moving towards obscurity.
The “Catholic” bishops of North Carolina can eat my shorts.
Protection from bullying is not OK, but pedophilia is just fine.
What a pair of fraakin’ hypocrites!
Don’t ever forget, North Carolina is the land of Jesse Helms.
NC may have been the home to Helms, but we voted for Obama. We are far more progressive than anyone gives us credit for and this proves it.
The interventions by the Roman Catholic Church and the so-called “Christian” Action League gives a clear message to homophobic and transphobic bullies that violence against LGBT people is okay. They know full well that bullies will take exactly that message from their interventions against an inclusive anti-bullying law. Sadly, both LGBT and heterosexual youth are subject to homophobic bullying in American and Canadian schools. By the way, this includes many Christian youth who choose not to date or be sexually active. NOBODY in any school should EVER have to fear being bullied in school or anywhere because of who s/he is. That includes LGBT youth and schools have a moral obligation to protect their students from bullying.
The clerical followers of Papenfueher Ratzi are becoming so irrelevant in the US. Church losing people en mass (no pun intended).
Just yesterday a Canonical lawyer’s testimony was entered into the Maine House minutes by Rep. Webster of Freeport, stating there was no way an American Bishop could interfere with anyone’s civil marriage in this country. … and that each Catholic, as is taught, is free to live under’ primacy of their own conscious’ over dogma.
And that, in fact, the Catholic laity have changed Church dogma in the past and may be about to do so again.
My question is “Why is it not acceptable to bully straight kids but it is acceptable to bully gay kids?” How can people that claim to have morals and family values stand up in the legislature with a public record being made and argue that all children need to be protected from bullies, well unless they are gay kids. How does such an argument square with logic, morality, or christianity?
I grew up in NC and the bullying was horrific. I just turned 46 and it still haunts me (even after years of therapy). Good for NC. I hope NO one EVER has to go what I went through!
It’s ok to beat up they gay youngens. It’ll toughen ‘em up. Make men outta ‘em.
Sure do like me some fried ‘taters, mhmm.
The conservative christians, and the catholic church of perversion, headed by someone who grew up in Nazi Germany, are just our own version of the Taliban.
They have spilled lies and hatred out into society for decades. The Jews, the Blacks, and now the gays.
When you hear about the war on religion terrorism, don’t forget the scene we have here in America. Instead of driving airplanes into buildings, these criminals use words.
yes, words do kill. Just go look at what happened in Europe when a Catholic born in very Catholic Austria took power. And mixed Aryan based racism and hatred of the Jews to gain power.
And in this country by the So. Baptists and independent conservative right wing churches, whose reason to be was to perpetuate slavery, and then segregation.
But there is progress. As people get more educated in NC, eg the tri city area of modern industry called Research Triangle Park, the churches are losing their power, as education becomes values.
And eventually we’ll be rid of most of the religious freaks, including the heirarchy of the catholic church, who both created their sexual perverts with their puritanical sex beliefs, and then hid them for decades.
Why did they hide them – because their perversion probably reaches into the very high levels of the power that be.
They all will be a blot on mankinds history.
As a suicide councilor on a website for the transgendered, I am appalled at the reaction to such legislation. Taunting and bullying is a blight on the face of humanity. It is our job as adults (despite our political persuasions) to halt all harm to those who need our help; gay or not.
I hope the communities in North Carolina understand that bullying extends far above and beyond sexual orientation and gender identity. I hope is that they vote with a conscience that will promote peace.
For the sake of our children and ourselves, I pray that peace will win out.
Allisa Drew (Moderator; Laura’s Playground and Pinknorblue.com)