cawacko
Well-known member
This got posted on the Rand Paul thread but so as to not high jack that thread because I am enjoying reading the discussion there I posted this here.
Why would you pass a bill that only says you can't bully gay kids? Why not pass a law that bans bullying period? Why do you need to separate kids out by their sexual preference? I don't understand this unless this is just straight political pandering which I'm sure it is.
Franken bill would protect gay students
The legislation is aimed at stopping bullying and harassment in schools.
By KEVIN DIAZ, Star Tribune
WASHINGTON - As a ninth-grader in Mound, Andy Berlin says, he never meant to be openly gay.
"I didn't need to be," he said. "It was so ... obvious."
When he complained to school administrators about the daily taunts and threats, he remembers the response was, "Well, it's not right, but it's high school. It's to be expected."
So on Thursday, Berlin, now a 19-year-old college student in San Francisco, welcomed legislation introduced by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., protecting gays and lesbians -- and those perceived to be gays and lesbians -- from school bullies.
Long awaited by gay activists, the Student Non-Discrimination Act also would add bisexual and transgender students to the groups federally protected against school violence and harassment.
Said Franken: "Our nation's civil rights laws protect our children from bullying due to race, sex, religion, disability and national origin. My proposal corrects a glaring injustice and extends these protections to our gay and lesbian students who need them just as badly."
Absent from the initial list of 22 Senate cosponsors was fellow Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar, exposing a small rift between Klobuchar and gay activists who have criticized her recently for what they see as her reticence on gay issues. Klobuchar signed on as a cosponsor later in the day, after a public plea from the Family Equality Council, a national gay rights group that supports Franken's bill.
The measure would establish a federal prohibition against discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. It would forbid schools from discriminating against gay students or ignoring harassing behavior. Remedies would include loss of federal funding for schools and suits filed by discrimination victims citing violations of the federal law.
http://www.startribune.com/politics...aL_V_9E7ODiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUs
Why would you pass a bill that only says you can't bully gay kids? Why not pass a law that bans bullying period? Why do you need to separate kids out by their sexual preference? I don't understand this unless this is just straight political pandering which I'm sure it is.
Franken bill would protect gay students
The legislation is aimed at stopping bullying and harassment in schools.
By KEVIN DIAZ, Star Tribune
WASHINGTON - As a ninth-grader in Mound, Andy Berlin says, he never meant to be openly gay.
"I didn't need to be," he said. "It was so ... obvious."
When he complained to school administrators about the daily taunts and threats, he remembers the response was, "Well, it's not right, but it's high school. It's to be expected."
So on Thursday, Berlin, now a 19-year-old college student in San Francisco, welcomed legislation introduced by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., protecting gays and lesbians -- and those perceived to be gays and lesbians -- from school bullies.
Long awaited by gay activists, the Student Non-Discrimination Act also would add bisexual and transgender students to the groups federally protected against school violence and harassment.
Said Franken: "Our nation's civil rights laws protect our children from bullying due to race, sex, religion, disability and national origin. My proposal corrects a glaring injustice and extends these protections to our gay and lesbian students who need them just as badly."
Absent from the initial list of 22 Senate cosponsors was fellow Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar, exposing a small rift between Klobuchar and gay activists who have criticized her recently for what they see as her reticence on gay issues. Klobuchar signed on as a cosponsor later in the day, after a public plea from the Family Equality Council, a national gay rights group that supports Franken's bill.
The measure would establish a federal prohibition against discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. It would forbid schools from discriminating against gay students or ignoring harassing behavior. Remedies would include loss of federal funding for schools and suits filed by discrimination victims citing violations of the federal law.
http://www.startribune.com/politics...aL_V_9E7ODiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUs
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