There's a national trend toward school boards amending their anti-discrimination policies to include sexual orientation. That's an important first step toward teaching principals, counselors, teachers and students that attacks on school children perceived to be gay will no longer be tolerated.
Every child deserves a safe environment in which to get an education.
After decades of ignoring the terrifyingly anti-gay climate that turns every school day into a living hell for a great many children, school boards aren't magically waking up to their responsibilities. In 1997, the U.S. Department of Education warned that schools risk losing their federal funding if sexual harassment of gay students is allowed to flourish. A 1999 national survey by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network found that 69 percent of gay, bisexual and transgender students said they were harassed, and 14 percent said the harassment was violent. Forty-two percent felt unsafe at school because of their orientation. That really goes to the core of what educators should care about.