By James Gilliam, Deputy Executive Director, ACLU of Southern California & Joey Hernández, LGBTQ Student Rights Advocate, ACLU of Southern California
A version of this blog post originally appeared on .
“Hey ACLU, I’m a gay 9th grader. My teachers don’t treat me differently because of my gender expression. I have both gay and straight friends. I get to live my life without being discriminated against. I’ve never been bullied. And I feel safe at school every day.”
We’ve never gotten that call here at the . More often, we get calls about incidences of school bullying that no one should have to endure. We hear from students who face judgmental teachers, unsympathetic principals, and ineffective superintendents, while being harassed by their peers on a daily basis. We work toward a future that promises that all students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, feel safe expressing themselves.
But trying to address all the calls we get about anti-LGBTQ bullying feels like treating the symptoms without addressing the illness. The real issue is this: How do we stop the calls from coming in?
The solution to the national bullying problem isn’t being a bystander until something bad happens. Just like the world’s best ambulance driver can’t prevent a drunk driver from getting behind the wheel, the most experienced lawyer can’t stop students from bullying their peers. We have to teach school officials how to address issues of unsafe school climates before harassment starts or escalates.
works with schools to create safe school environments. We educate schools on LGBTQ student rights, about the preventative policies and procedures they should adopt to avoid finding themselves in a courtroom, and we connect them to the community resources that can help schools address the anti-gay climate in their schools. In our experience, school administrators would prefer to sit in a classroom now and learn how to prevent bullying than stand at a podium at a press conference defending themselves from a lawsuit against their school.
For example, , a comprehensive guide produced by the , teaches elementary school students about family diversity, gender stereotyping and name-calling. It teaches students the negative impacts of phrases like “that’s so gay” and prompts students to think about why pre-conceived ideas of men and women are harmful to gender nonconforming students.
works for the creation of Gay Straight Alliances in middle and high schools across the country. According to , schools with GSAs are more accepting of LGBTQ students, who are subsequently more likely to feel safe at school. LGBTQ students who have a GSA in their school experience less physical and verbal harassment from their peers.
is a coalition of organizations that works to address the conditions that contribute to bullying, homophobia, LGBTQ youth suicide and suicidal ideation in the . Members of Project SPIN conduct trainings and implement programs that stop name-calling in hallways, physical abuse on school buses, and ambivalence from school staff towards bullying.
At , Dr. Karyl Ketchum is teaching “,” an online resource and professional course. It teaches educational staff how to identify bullying and how this harassment creates a school environment that inhibits a student from succeeding academically. The course’s video lectures and interviews instruct teachers how to intervene in bullying situations and how to create teachable moments. Most important, it teaches the steps educators can take to preventing bullying and harassment before it starts.
These programs make a difference in students’ lives, but they depend on school cooperation to make these changes. How do we get schools to take a stance against bullying?
It starts with you: parents and their children need to become the of their own school experiences. All across the state, students have the right to feel safe in their schools, and their parents have the right to demand it. Families in our community must tell their principals’ and superintendents’ that they aren’t going to wait to end bullying until after another tragedy occurs.
Learn more about LGBT rights: Sign up for breaking news alerts, , and .
Learn More About the Issues on This Page
-
Press ReleaseDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
President Biden Must Veto Defense Bill Attacking Military Families with Transgender YouthPresident Biden Must Veto Defense Bill Attacking Military Families with Transgender Youth
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate today passed a version of the National Defense Authorization Act that would ban coverage for gender-affirming care for transgender youth whose parents are active-duty military personnel. The American Civil Liberties Union is opposing final passage of the defense bill over the inclusion of this health care ban and calling on President Joe Biden to veto the bill. Section 708 of the NDAA would prohibit insurance coverage for “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria” such as hormone therapy and puberty-suppressant medications, which Speaker Mike Johnson says would “permanently ban transgender medical treatment for minors.” The same treatments would be covered by TRICARE for any medical purpose other than treating gender dysphoria, the clinical diagnosis for the psychological distress experienced by transgender people related to their gender identity. “By passing this bill, the House and Senate are forcing thousands of active-duty service members to choose between their careers in the military and the future of their transgender children,” said Mike Zamore, national director of policy & government affairs at the ACLU. “This unconscionable and unjustifiable attack on those families stands in direct contrast to President Joe Biden’s legacy of defending the civil rights of transgender Americans — including when few in his own party showed the courage to do so. President Biden should cement his legacy by vetoing this bill and sending it back to Congress to pass without Speaker Johnson’s last minute health care ban for servicemembers’ kids.” If signed by President Biden, this health care ban would be the first new anti-LGBTQ provision enacted by Congress and signed into law by the president since the enactment of the military’s since-repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for LGBTQ servicemembers and the since-repealed federal law barring recognition of same-sex marriages known as the Defense of Marriage Act. It is unknown how many transgender youth are currently enrolled in TRICARE or how many of those enrolled are currently receiving coverage for gender-affirming care. In one 2022 analysis, 2,500 minor patients sought care for gender dysphoria through TRICARE Prime insurance at military or civilian treatment facilities in 2017, and 900 received puberty suppressants or gender-affirming hormones. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a landmark case brought by the ACLU, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump on behalf of three families and a medical provider challenging a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming hormonal therapies for transgender youth on the grounds the ban violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
Montana Court Blocks State From Refusing to Correct Sex Markers on Transgender People's Birth Certificates and Driver's LicensesMontana Court Blocks State From Refusing to Correct Sex Markers on Transgender People's Birth Certificates and Driver's Licenses
HELENA, Mont. – A Montana court has granted a preliminary injunction preventing the state of Montana from enforcing policies that bar transgender people from obtaining accurate sex designations on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses. After a prior restriction on amendments of birth certificates was struck down by the courts, in early 2024 the state of Montana enacted a new rule that categorically bars transgender Montanans from correcting the sex designation on their birth certificates. Around the same time, the Montana Department of Justice adopted a policy similarly restricting amendment of driver’s licenses. The plaintiffs challenged these policies in state district court, arguing that they violate various constitutional provisions, including the right to equal protection of the law. In a recent Montana Supreme Court decision, two justices concluded that discrimination on the basis of transgender status – as the state is engaging in here – is a form of sex discrimination that violates the Montana Constitution’s equal protection clause. The plaintiffs, two transgender women, are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Montana, and Nixon Peabody LLP. Plaintiff Jessica Kalarchik, a veteran who served in the United States Army for 31 years, said: “After finally being able to live my life openly as the woman I know myself to be, I am frustrated that my birth state, Montana, wants me to carry around a birth certificate that incorrectly lists my sex as male. I live my life openly as a woman, I am treated as a woman in my daily life, and there is no reason I should be forced to carry a birth certificate that incorrectly identifies me as male. Fortunately, the court agrees that this ridiculous policy should not be in effect.” “Once again the State of Montana chose to adopt a draconian policy that is clearly intended to marginalize transgender Montanans, only for that discriminatory action to be blocked by the courts,” said Akilah Deernose, executive director for the ACLU of Montana. “Here in Montana we treasure our right to privacy and to live our lives free from governmental intrusion. The State of Montana clearly has not learned any lessons from the past few years, where courts have repeatedly struck down unconstitutional laws targeting transgender Montanans.” “Forcing anyone to carry documents that contradict their identity unjustly violates their rights to privacy, equal treatment, and not being compelled to convey a government message about their sex that they disagree with,” said Malita Picasso, staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “Such a policy marks transgender people for further mistreatment and discrimination, essentially requiring them to carry papers that out them as transgender any time they need to provide identity documents. Fortunately, the court has refused to allow the state of Montana to subvert the freedom of transgender Montanans to control their own identity as this case goes forward.” In granting the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, the court held, “[i]f the challenged state actions discriminate against transgender individuals on the basis of their transgender status, they also necessarily discriminate the basis of sex.” The state has the option of appealing the district court’s ruling to the Montana Supreme Court, but the underlying case will proceed in district court. A trial has not yet been scheduled. -
FloridaDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
Keohane v. DixonKeohane v. Dixon
On September 30, 2024, the Florida Department of Corrections rescinded its policy regarding treatment of gender dysphoria, which allowed for hormone therapy when deemed medically necessary, as well as access to clothing and grooming standards that accord with one’s gender identity. Under this new policy, grooming and clothing accommodations have been stripped away, and hormone therapy is not permitted unless an exception is deemed constitutionally required. The ACLU brought a class action challenging the policy. -
IdahoDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
Robinson v. LabradorRobinson v. Labrador
Two incarcerated transgender women have sued the state of Idaho alleging that HB 688, a 2024 law barring state funding for gender-affirming medical care for transgender people, denies them access to the health care their doctors have prescribed for them and is a violation of their Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. They represent a class of all incarcerated folks within the state of Idaho who face the loss of hormone therapy due to HB 668.