End Discrimination in Our Schools, Not Just in the Workplace « MomsRising Blog

End Discrimination in Our Schools, Not Just in the Workplace « MomsRising Blog:

End Discrimination in Our Schools, Not Just in the Workplace

Posted November 14th, 2013 by Liz Watson

By Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel & Director of Education Policy for At-Risk Students at the National Women’s Law Center
Cross-posted from NWLC’s blog

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) with strong bipartisan support. If ENDA becomes law, employers across the nation will be barred from discriminating against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender workers because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This is a major step forward for LGBT rights and shows just how far our country has come.

But we can’t stop there. While the Senate has taken a step to end LGBT discrimination in the workplace, there is no federal law that explicitly prohibits the same kind of discrimination in public schools. School districts across the country have been keeping LGBT students out of athletics programs. Censoring Gay-Straight Alliance groups. Cancelling prom rather than letting a student bring her girlfriend to the dance.

The situation is especially urgent due to the shocking levels of harassment and

Read more: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/end-discrimination-in-our-schools-not-just-in-the-workplace/#ixzz2kfKy0TBC