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All students have a federal constitutional right to equal protection under the law.
If school officials failed to take action against anti-LGBT harassment because they believed that the LGBT student should have expected to be harassed, or because they believed that the LGBT student brought the harassment upon him or herself simply by being openly LGBT, or because the school was uneducated about LGBT issues and was uncomfortable addressing the situation, then the school has failed to provide equal protection to the student. Title IX 2 of the Education Amendment Acts of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. Although Title IX does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, sexual harassment directed at an LGBT student is prohibited by Title IX if it is sufficiently severe and pervasive. 3 Title IX also prohibits gender-based harassment, including harassment on the basis of a student's failure to conform to stereotyped notions of masculinity and femininity. 4 Standard of Liability Under Title IX, a school district can be held liable if it knew about sex-based harassment of a student by another student or a teacher and failed to take reasonable steps to stop it.