[CSPS] safer schools for lgbt students/LEG news

[Cecelia Hawkins]

[from the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas] (forwarded from Krista May)

Victory for LGBT Students in Texas!

Legislator Champions safer schools: Dignity for All Students

Austin, TX - Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students scored a
major victory in the Texas House of Representatives last night. 
Representative
Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) led the way on two important steps toward making
Texas public schools safer for LGBT youth.

During debate on HB 2--a bill to overhaul the funding and programming of 
Texas
public schools--Representative Coleman successfully added an amendment 
calling
for a study on bullying and discrimination in Texas schools. The amendment 
would
require the Texas Education Agency to collect data on the causes and 
frequency
of bullying and discrimination in our public schools. The results of this 
report
will help educators and policymakers create a positive environment and 
ensure
that all schools are places where students are free to learn, regardless of
their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

"Governor Perry has called us back to Austin to fix some of the fundamental 
ways
we fund and educate our Texas youth," stated Representative Coleman. "During
this important debate, we must remember that every Texas student has the 
right
to a public education. When students are discriminated against in school and 
the
school does nothing about it, we are failing them in a very fundamental way.
This amendment will give lawmakers the necessary information to better
understand and address the issue of bullying and discrimination against LGBT
youth in our public schools."

Heath Riddles, Deputy Director of Communications for the Lesbian/Gay Rights
Lobby of Texas, applauded the move. "Mr. Coleman continues to be a champion 
of
equality and fairness in this state," Riddles said. "He understands the
importance of protecting our youth, and the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of 
Texas is
proud to have him in our corner. This lobby will continue to demand that 
type of
commitment from all public servants in Texas. We will not rest until 
equality
and fairness, not political divisiveness, are the driving forces in this 
state's
political arena."

A separate bill filed by Representative Coleman, HB 60, would go one step
further. The Dignity for All Students Act would protect students from 
bullying
and discrimination based on the ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity,
sexual orientation, disability, religion, or national origin of the student 
or
the student's parent in Texas public schools.

The Dignity for All Students Act is seemingly a nonpartisan issue: it 
protects
LGBT youth from being harassed in public schools. Representative Coleman 
filed
the bill in response to the lack of state or federal law protecting LGBT 
youth
in public schools. A national study done by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Education Network (GLSEN) indicates 84% of LGBT youth reported regularly
experiencing homophobic harassment, while 82.9% of LGBT students report that
faculty or staff never intervened or intervened only some of the time when
present.

"Instead of addressing the real problems of our state during our regular
session, Governor Perry chose to hide behind an amendment to the Texas
Constitution banning the recognition of same-sex marriages," continued
Representative Coleman. "I will not tolerate politics based on fear and
prejudice, and I will continue to fight for all Texas youth. I want to send 
a
message loud and strong across Texas. No type of discrimination will be
tolerated in this state."