Education Department Takes Aim at Gay Bullying
The administration is putting more teeth behind bullying and harassment policies when they involve gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered students.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 | 6:10 p.m.
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The Education Department is taking an aggressive stance on gay-bashing, telling schools that they could be in violation of civil rights laws and anti-bullying policies if their students tease or harass their peers based on their sexual orientation.
The agency is digging deep into case law that prohibits gender-based harassment. There isn’t a federal civil rights statute that explicitly protects people based on their sexual orientation, but the courts have held that same-sex harassment based on gender stereotypes is unlawful.
The department is adopting a similar tactic on religious bullying, saying it is illegal to harass students on the basis of shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics. Religious discrimination is prohibited in the workplace, but other civil rights statutes don’t mention religion. In schools, the agency wants to
