Posted on 01/05/2011 9:30:34 AM PST by markomalley
The U.S. Justice Department went into a public high school on Tuesday with a message for students: If you’re “different,” if you’re gay, and if you’re being bullied – don’t feel alone, don’t be ashamed, and don’t hesitate to call on the federal government for help if your school doesn’t stop the bullying.
“If you have been targeted for harassment or bullying because of your sexual orientation, because of your gender identity or expression, or simply because your classmates see you as different, I am here to tell you that the Civil Rights Division will not stand for it,” Tom Perez, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, told students at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Md.
As part of the event – sponsored by the school’s administration and its gay-straight alliance – Perez played a videotape in which mostly gay and lesbian Civil Rights Division employees (and one who identified herself as intersex) shared their stories of being bullied at school. They also offered supportive messages to those who are being bullied now:
“You do have allies -- we are here for you,” one Civil Rights Division employee says in the video.
“If you can find some hope in the fact that you have a whole community of people out here – people who you’ve never met, and we’ve never met you, but we think of you and care about you and want you to be safe and want you to be happy,” another employee says.
“Being different is cool,” another employee says.
“When I was in grade school and high school, I was bullied. But now I prosecute bullies,” says yet another employee.
“Don’t be ashamed of who you are, just keep on being yourself.”
The video was produced by the Civil Rights Division staff for submission to the national “It Gets Better” Project, which was launched after a string of suicides of homosexual students who reportedly had been bullied. The project is intended to reassure LGBT youth that life gets better after high school.
Following the assistant attorney general’s remarks and the video presentation, students at Blake High School were invited to sign the “It Gets Better” Pledge, which reads as follows: “Everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I pledge to spread this message to my friends, family and neighbors. I'll speak up against hate and intolerance whenever I see it, at school and at work. I'll provide hope for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and other bullied teens by letting them know that ‘It Gets Better.’"
According to a blog on the Justice Department’s Web site, Perez told students that in addition to the Civil Rights Division bringing cases against bullies, “we also need to address the attitudes and behavior that lead to bullying.”
Perez gave the students examples of how the Justice Department has intervened in cases of bullying – including the case of an openly homosexual teenager in New York who “failed to conform to gender stereotypes.”
A settlement reached in that case requires the school district to, among other things, retain an expert consultant to review policies related to harassment, and train faculty and staff annually on discrimination and harassment.
On the other hand the JD has no problem with voters being bullied at the polling place.
Only if they’re white.
`It Get’s Better’ program
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geyAFbSDPVk
I wonder how women and blacks feel about being compared to homosexuals.
How many transexual teens are there at school????
Also, what is this crap with “bi”??? If homosexuality is genetic and no one can help it, how do you explain people having sex with BOTH sexes? If not genetic, aren’t they just sluts?
Maybe it’s nobody’s business at school if a girl or guy is a bisexual slut, but why does the government want to force others to make pledges on behalf of slutty people?
It’s absolutely preposterous. How did transvestites, transexuals and bisexuals get into this favored status?
Of course bullying would include such phrases as “There is a better way than the lifestyle you’re choosing, and it can be found in this Book.”
Shut up and sit down, losers. And hand over your lunch money.
F**k that. Happened to me too many times in junior high. Nowadays, someone getting bullied is just as likely to 'eliminate' the problem and cap you or stick a shiv in your chest.
Those individuals don’t have a “protected class” yet. Give it time...
Muslims are protected; watch your choice of words.
As a kid who was both short and nerdy until my junior year of high school that’s EXACTLY what I thought when I read this. The Justice department shouldn’t be involved at the local school bully level to begin with.
What if you're an irritating, self-righteous @$$hole who happens to be gay?
Wearing or carrying anything resembling Old Glory, a short prayer at the beginning of the day, or having a 20 gauge in your truck so you can go directly to dove-hunting after school—the U.S. Justice Department ‘Won’t Stand for It,’
Well, it's certainly true that it is the government's job to make sure it's citizens are *happy*.
“When I was in grade school and high school, I was bullied. But now I prosecute bullies,” says yet another employee.
Prosecute with a vengeance, I'm guessing. The employees' life mission is PAYBACK.
“Don’t be ashamed of who you are, just keep on being yourself.”
"Don't be ashamed"? Even if you're one of those homos that leans towards pedophilia? A rapist? Yep. Just keep being yourself, there are no boundries kids.
More special rights for alleged homosexuals.
What is the Justice Department's standard of proof for a complainant? Having a slog on Holder's junk? Actually packing fudge with Obama?
Just askin'.
http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2010/08/23/family-of-sladjana-vidovic-16-year-old-who-committed-suicide-suing-mentor-schools
On October 2, 2008, 16-year-old Sladjana Vidovic was found by her sister. Vidovic was dead, having committed suicide by hanging herself out of her bedroom window. In her suicide note, the Bosnian native said that she was constantly bullied at school.
The courts have already said that one must simply declare oneself to be a homosexual to be treated as one.
US Justice Dept: “We won’t stand for gay kids to be bullied”
Gay kid: “Those black kids just called me a ‘fag’”
US Justice Dept: “You probably misheard them”
I always wondered why bullying was suddenly such a BIG ISSUE. Sure enough, it was a wedge to introduce support for the homosexual lifestyle.
“Just be yourself.” That is what they say. It is a pagan lifestyle all the way.
In truth, liberals do not mind bullying at all, as they are long-time practitioners.
putting it out there. If even there was conduct worthy of ridicule, homosexual conduct is it. Physical violence? No. Laughing and pointing at ridiculous conduct? Yup.
You folks just don't understand. They're just building the Dem base here.
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