D.C. school policy signed
New directive prohibits anti-Gay harassment

by Lou Chibbaro Jr.

D.C. public school superintendent Arlene Ackerman on March 31 signed an official school directive declaring that harassment by students against other students based on race, national origin, sexual orientation, and other categories is a violation of school policy. In response to suggestions by the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, Ackerman expanded her directive from an earlier draft so that it covers "harassment generally" as well as sexual harassment.

GLAA had lobbied school officials to adopt a directive specifically barring anti-Gay harassment, citing studies showing that Gay students suffer from such harassment in schools across the country. Ackerman initially agreed to issue a directive asserting that existing school system policy barring sexual harassment also covers anti-Gay harassment. But GLAA said such a directive would not be sufficient because sexual harassment, which involves unwelcome sexual advances, is not the same as anti-Gay harassment, which involves verbal or physical threats and intimidation based on the victim's sexual orientation.

Ackerman's final directive includes two separate and distinct sections - "Harassment of Students by Employees or Other Students" and "Sexual Harassment of Students by Employees or Other Students."

"Harassment is a violation of school policy," the directive states, "and means verbal, nonverbal, and physical conduct that substantially interferes with a student's educational performance and creates an intimidating or hostile environment." The directive says the anti-harassment policy applies to all categories of individuals listed in the D.C. Human Rights Act, including race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, and age, among other categories.

GLAA Vice President Lukas Malek, who coordinated GLAA's lobbying effort on behalf of the directive, praised the directive, calling it an important tool for combating anti-Gay harassment in the city's public schools.

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