Franken Praises Obama Administration’s New Guidance on School Bullying
Today, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) praised new guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education reinforcing the responsibility of schools when it comes to bullying and clarifying when such behavior may violate anti-discrimination laws. A letter sent to school districts, colleges, and universities outlines schools' obligations to protect students, but notes that while current federal law protects lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) students against harassment based on gender stereotyping or gender harassment, bullying based on sexual orientation is not expressly prohibited. Minnesota has recently dealt with the suicides of several LGBT students after they had been bullied at school.
"I want to thank the Administration for taking this important step of reminding schools about their obligation to stop bullying and about the potential consequences if they don't," said Sen. Franken. "I'm pleased that the Administration continues to show its commitment to ending harassment and understands the importance of giving schools the tools to address bullying. But as this guidance notes, the bullying of LGBT students is not expressly prohibited by federal law, so our next step must be passing the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would give LGBT students an equal right against harassment and discrimination. With the spate of recent suicides in Minnesota as a result of anti-LGBT bullying, it's clear that we need to do more to ensure schools are a safe environment for all students."
To read the full text of the letter from the Department of Education, click here.
Sen. Franken introduced the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) in May 2010. SNDA would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition against discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and forbid schools from discriminating against LGBT students or ignoring harassing behavior. It now has 25 Senate cosponsors and a companion bill in the House of Representatives introduced by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.).
