Msg fwd by:
The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS, PO Box 2345, Malta, NY 12020
Email to:saratogany@aol.com

"The Actual or Perceived GLBT Student Protection Project"

CSS-NYS Opinion:If the following article is accurate, I believe the advocates for "sexual orientation" being added to the districts non-discrimination policy, diversity and "harassment" (code of conduct) policies have been duped. By adding the words sexual orientation to the district's "SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICY" they did nothing more than what is already stated in US Title IX which covers sexual harassment in all schools receiving federal funds.

The March 1997 Title IX Guidance includes sexual harassment protection for gay and lesbians students. Title IX DOES NOT provide protections for gay and lesbian students against DISCRIMINATION OR HARASSMENT. Often gay bashing in schools involves some type of sexual connotation and therefore it is sexual harassment and these aggrieved students should report the incident(s) as a Title IX sexual harassment violation. Which must be documented and reported by the district.

Harassment without sexual connotation is NOT covered by sexual harassment policies. Hence, the need for an anti-harassment (code of conduct) policy that specifically includes real or perceived sexual orientation and gender indentity.

The GLBT Naperville advocates gained nothing more than a affirmation of what Title IX already states.
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NAPERVILLE SUN, July 19, 2000
1500 Ogden Ave., Naperville, IL 60540
( http://www.copleynewspapers.com/ )

Sexual orientation addressed
Policy prohibits harassment of gay and lesbian students

By Linda Bicksler, STAFF WRITER

The language appeared - finally - not in a diversity policy or nondiscrimination policy, but as the centerpiece of Naperville Community Unit School District 203's rewritten sexual harassment policy.

Long hoped-for by student members of Gay-Straight Alliances at Naperville North and Naperville Central high schools, and long debated by parents and residents, language that mentions sexual orientation is contained in the proposed policy. The new policy may come to a vote in August or September.

A new section titled "Harassment of Students" lists sexual orientation, along with sex, race, religion, disability and other "protected status groups," as categories of people who may not be harassed or intimidated.

If harassment should occur, the policy specifies actions to be taken and consequences to be faced. After a situation is investigated, employees may be disciplined or discharged for sexual harassment; students may be suspended or expelled. People who make a false accusation may face the same penalties.

Tensions mounted Monday as about 15 students and residents addressed the School Board on this issue, some applauding the newly crafted policy and some pleading that the policy be thrown out.

Present to support the policy were Pamela Sumners of Chicago's American Civil Liberties Union, the Rev. Duane Mevis, pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church, and the Rev. Gregory Skiba, pastor of the First Congregational United Church of Christ. Impassioned personal experiences and statistics not only spoke to the policy itself, but gave arguments regarding the identities of homosexual, bisexual and transgender people.

Skiba said he accepted the gay lifestyle "not in a flash of instant knowledge but over years of counseling the suffering."

"I wanted to tell the board that not having such a policy is immoral and illegal," Sumners said, "and that by adopting this policy, they can show they're not indifferent, and do a lot toward avoiding problems later on."

The stories of District 203 students also were recounted.

"I realized I was bisexual in my junior year of high school," said a tearful Audrey Martin, president of Naperville Central High School's Gay-Straight Alliance.

"I couldn't face school ... I told my parents I was sick every day ... I don't ever want another student to go through what I went through," Martin said.

Bill and Helene Harrison, parents of a 28-year-old who once attended Lincoln Junior High, said their son Andrew was "perceived as different" and attacked by boys in the seventh grade, even before he knew he was gay.

"These children are born gay," Helene Harrison said. "Their sexual orientation is probably determined in the womb ... Sexual orientation cannot be changed."

But not everyone agreed.

Naperville North High School senior Joseph Brown told board members he had generated a petition to end the Gay-Straight Alliance - but it was ignored.

"I wanted to rid the school of the GSA because I didn't think school was the place for the GSA," Brown said. "Even though I obtained 400 signatures, they did not want to hear it."

Bill Stewart, parent of two children in District 203 and one graduate, told board members he felt no one group should receive "special treatment" -- positively or negatively.

"I've taught my kids not to harass anyone," Stewart said. "To reasonably accept everyone. Can we accept this document that isolates this particular group unless we are prepared to isolate other groups?"

Kermit Eby, adviser of the Spectrum Club and the GSA and a social studies teacher at North, thanked the board for drafting a policy that he said would likely be precedent-setting.

"I applaud your courage, especially in DuPage County," Eby said. "I bet a lot of other school districts will follow your lead on this."
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This message has been distributed as a free informational service for the expressed interest of non-profit research and educational purposes only.

PRIMER WEBSITES
GLSEN --- Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network
www.glsen.org
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
www.lambdalegal.org
Safe Schools Coalition of Washington
www.safeschools-wa.org
The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project Home Page
www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
www.pflag.org
Empire State (NY) Pride Agenda
www.prideagenda.org

"The Actual or Perceived GLBT Student Protection Project"

A project of:
Coalition for Safer Schools of New York State

John Myers
Director of Operations and Programs
PO Box 2345
Malta, NY 12020
(518) 587-0176
Email:saratogany@aol.com

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