stop the hate | by lisa lipsey
Along with all the superhero costumes out there, The RAGE Monthly welcomes an everyday hero, Robert R. DeKoven, a professor at California Western School of Law. DeKoven has taught legal research and writing to law and paralegal students for more than 18 years. He is passionate about education, privacy and civil rights, and publishes over 50 commentaries annually.
As the Stop the Hate columnist, I preface this piece with a gentle reminder: LGBTQIA/2S youth and young adults need our support. We must ensure the hard-won legal protections noted in DeKoven’s piece are not erased. We must show up in support of diversity, equity and inclusion in education. Locally, at our school board meetings, diversity education is being challenged by hate groups, the extreme right and certain church groups.
We need to share our stories! Dig down and ask yourself: Why is a book character that you can relate to so important? Does representation matter? Ask, how can I combat anti-LGBTQ sentiments? How can I stand up for or be a mentor to LGBTQ youth? And if you are moved to answer these questions, e-mail me: lisa@ragemonthly.com
by rob dekoven
The RAGE Monthly has done an excellent job of encouraging readers to report hate incidents and hate crimes. But I wanted to share that many hate crimes occur in our K-12 schools. For kids and families seeking support, school websites direct students to agencies where they can file complex complaints, often taking years to resolve. It’s ineffective.
California (like Utah) should have a simple three-digit number that immediately connects the student to a Child Welfare Services agent. Why? Often minors need “immediate” help. County child-welfare agencies have the ability to mobilize triage units, consisting of police, social welfare agencies, district attorneys, county counsel and judges. Often the very best recourse for bullied students, their parents, teachers and friends is to call 1-800-344-6000 (child- abuse reporting hotline).
As school boards across the country continue to purge libraries of LGBT books, remove books that mention lgbt civil rights or leaders or otherwise remove any mention of LGBT inclusion, they need to know there is a high cost to pay.
In mid-August, Salvador Rios, 14-year-old University City boy, took his own life. According to news sources, Salvador came out as gay in the sixth grade at Marston Middle School. Older students targeted him for abuse, yelling homophobic slurs and physically assaulting him. He transferred to Stanley Middle School, where he was apparently thriving, according to family members. Yet, on Tuesday, August 15, someone posted a picture of Rios, made homophobic remarks and disclosed private facts about him that Rios had confided in only a few others. As a result, Rios took his own life. Sal Rios is another in a long line of child suicides resulting from bullying.
Recently, a jury awarded $27 million to the family of a boy. He complained about constant bullying, and then was beaten to death at school. As a result of civil liability statutes, largely enacted at the urging of LGBT legislators, California imposes civil liability on school officials who are deliberately indifferent to the pleas of bullied kids.
And the liability isn’t limited to students who are openly gay. A recent case illustrates bullying between students of the same gender and sexual orientation is actionable. In Grabowski v. Board of Regents of University of Arizona, the court ruled federal anti-discrimination law (known as Title IX) protected a “straight” male track student at the University of Arizona. He was subject to “frequent sexual and homophobic bullying” because his teammates perceived him to be “gay.”
Michael Grabowski claimed employees of the University of Arizona were “deliberately indifferent” to his pleas for help. When he did complain, the university retaliated against him.
The court held that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, barring schools receiving federal funds from tolerating “sex” discrimination, and this includes harassment based upon “perceived sexual orientation.”
A few years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 —barring sex discrimination in employment — applies to all forms of gender discrimination, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
In the West, if not the entire country, public schools (K-college) must protect students from bullying because of gender. School employees cannot be willfully blind to the actions of students occurring on campus and off campus.
Juries today find the official knew or “should have known” about the abuse. Schools have an affirmative duty to identify and support those students who are being or have been bullied, harassed, hazed or sexually abused. The reason is simple. Suffering often leads to suicide and other forms of self-destructive behavior. Kids need somewhere safe to turn. Some students don’t tell their parents about the bullying, given the threat of humiliation. In LGBTQIA/2S cases, students may fear a parent will kick them out of their home.
While some school leaders are sympathetic to the plight of bullied kids, they can’t provide around-the-clock guards for these students. They feel helpless. In too many schools, the failure to conform to traditional gender stereotypes and heterosexual orientation can result in harassment, abuse and bullying. If a school can’t provide a safe place, Title IX says school districts must pay or lose access to federal funds.
School boards that refuse to respond or take affirmative steps to support bullied students, or fail to include LGBTQ history, or remove LGBTQ books, are only reinforcing the view that they are being deliberately indifferent to their students of all genders and sexual orientations.