Kentucky still needs anti-gay bullying legislation!

Though such legislation always dies in the Kentucky Senate, other school districts see the need for anti-gay bullying rules and/or laws.

Just last year former Senator Ernesto Scorsone tried to force the issue in the Kentucky Senate. Lawmakers have passed legislation related to school bullying since 2005, but it has yet to ever receive a hearing in a Kentucky Senate Committee.

• STORY: 2008 School Bullying Legislation Dies
• STORY: Bullying at Northern Kentucky University
  
• STORY: Bullying at Conner High School

Just this week another major county, Alameda, in the State of California adopted "Safe School Curriculum," that aim to curb anti-gay bullying. School officials say it will help children of gay parents feel welcome at school and help end anti-gay teasing and bullying on the playground.

The lessons also aim to provide a safe environment for children to learn, as well as to offer a framework for teachers to break down stereotypes and teach kids about different types of families.

A student offered testimony during the hearing:

Brian Harris, a 16-year-old student at the Alameda Community Learning Center, told trustees that he has been called anti-gay epithets on campus.

"I have been harassed by other students in the classroom and I have even begun to consider just stopping and giving up on life," Harris said.

"We need to start somewhere," said Trustee Niel Tam, who voted yes.

According to the American Physiological Association, children and/or teenagers who are victims of school bullying have some of the following characteristics:

• Are cautious, sensitive, quiet, withdrawn and shy
• Are often anxious, insecure, unhappy and have low self-esteem
• Are depressed and engage in suicidal ideation much more often than their peers
• Often do not have a single good friend and relate better to adults than to peers
• If they are boys, they may be physically weaker than their peers
  

These characteristics are likely to be both a partial cause and a consequence of the bullying. There is also another, much smaller group of victims, called provocative victims or bully-victims, with partly different characteristics, including frequent reading and writing problems and ADHD characteristics.

As the school official in Alameda County, California said, "We need to start somewhere." Well, we obviously need to start somewhere here in Kentucky also..... but for now, children and teenagers will have to continue to suffer because of homophobic lawmakers who believe the legislation will be used to "promote homosexuality," or our so-called "gay agenda."

If you are a victim of school bullying, report it here*.

* If you or anyone else is in immediate danger, notify school officials or local law enforcement immediately.