Tell Congress to Outlaw Discrimination for LGBT Students

As Congress moves towards revising our nation's education laws, it is the perfect time to fix a loophole that allows discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in public schools.

The Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee is scheduled to consider a bill to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) on October 18, and a draft of the provisions in that bill should come out as early as this afternoon. It is essential that ESEA includes the Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA), which would outlaw discrimination in public K-12 schools based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

Bullying and harassment are all too common in our nation's schools, and students who are or are perceived to LGBT, are especially at risk for such treatment. According to a 2009 survey, 84% of LGBT youth were verbally harassed, 40% were physically harassed, and 18% were physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation.

Bullying and harassment can have a devastating impact on LGBT students, leading to adverse health consequences, lowering their academic achievement, and increasing their rates of absenteeism and dropout. Compounding this problem, a recent study found that gay and lesbian teens in the U.S. are about 40 percent more likely than straight students to be punished at schools; girls are especially at risk for such unequal treatment.

And these statistics are brought home by the recent news stories of bullying and discrimination of LGBT students in schools. Like the school in Mississippi that actually cancelled its senior prom (!!!) rather than allow a lesbian student to bring her girlfriend. Or when the elementary school student asked a teacher to stop a schoolyard dodgeball game called "Smear the Queer," and the teacher responded by declaring the student be the "queer" for the day, upon which students hurled balls at him (modern-day stoning, anyone?). And, of course, we will never forget the tragic story after story of gay teens driven to suicide after years of in-person and online bullying by their peers.

LGBT students should know that it gets better. But Congress can make sure that it gets better. Now.