Last fall, the brutal, unprovoked beating of Zach, an openly gay student at Unioto High School in Chillicothe, Ohio, made national headlines when a video of the incident went viral online.

Today, the ACLU is releasing a new video that features Zach and his mom, Becky Collins. Zach and Becky describe years of unending discrimination and harassment that Zach experienced at school based on his perceived sexual orientation. As the years went on, the abuse only escalated. Becky’s pleas to school officials to protect her son were ignored.

And then the videotaped beating occurred and spread like wildfire online, garnering lots of attention to the challenges lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students like Zach face each day they go to school.

The type of anti-gay harassment Zach was forced to endure at his school is unacceptable. However, we know that stories like his are far from rare. Similar harassment is taking place across the country, creating a toxic environment that denies LGBT students their right to an equal education.

A 2009 study of more than 7,000 LGBT middle and high school students across the U.S. found that nine out of ten reported experiencing harassment at their school within the past year based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and two-thirds said they felt unsafe at school because of who they are.

The ACLU of Ohio is representing both Zach and his mother, and is working with his high school to ensure that something like this never happens again. School officials need to proactively address discrimination and harassment against LGBT students when it is brought to their attention, as well as work to foster a campus climate in which all students feel safe and welcome.

In addition, there is a bill pending in Congress which would address this serious problem head on. The Student Non-Discrimination Act would have a profound impact on the lives of LGBT students in the U.S. by ensuring that discrimination and harassment of students on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity has no place in our country’s public elementary and secondary schools.

Please join the ACLU in urging Congress to pass the Student Non-Discrimination Act to make schools safe and fair for students like Zach. Additionally, please make sure to share this new video with your friends and family, including on Facebook and Twitter!

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This afternoon, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that the final rule will be published in the Federal Register early next week, meaning that it will take effect in just a little over one month from today! Needless to say, this is a tremendous step forward in efforts to stamp out discrimination against LGBT people in housing.

Of critical importance, the rule will require all organizations that operate HUD-assisted or HUD-insured housing facilities to serve LGBT Americans looking for shelter and housing—including religious organizations. As a coalition of more than 30 civil rights organizations (including the ACLU) wrote to HUD last year, once a religious organization chooses to provide housing services or programs with the aid of federal funds and benefits from HUD, it cannot shield itself from traditional safeguards that protect civil rights in the provision of those services. Those religious organizations that provide wholly private housing services will be unaffected by this new rule.  We are pleased that HUD said that all organizations must provide equal access to HUD housing programs and did not sanction the use of religion to discriminate. 

As Secretary Donovan stated last year at the time of the publication of the proposed rule, “This is a fundamental issue of fairness. We have a responsibility to make certain that public programs are open to all Americans.  With this proposed rule, we will make clear that a person’s eligibility for federal housing programs is, and should be, based on their need and not on their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The ACLU could not agree with Secretary Donovan more strongly. This new federal rule will move us one step closer to an America where decent, affordable housing is available to all Americans.

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The ACLU has long fought illegal school efforts to block students from forming GSAs, including most recently in Tennessee and Texas. Additionally, last year, the U.S. Department of Education issued a letter to school districts around the country reinforcing students’ legal right under the federal Equal Access Act to form GSAs. 

Last year, the ACLU released a short video informing students how they could start a GSA in their school.

National GSA Day is also a powerful reminder of the challenges that continue to confront LGBT students nationwide. Discrimination, harassment, and even physical abuse, are often part of LGBT students’ daily lives at school. A 2009 study of more than 7,000 LGBT middle and high school students across the U.S. found that nine out of ten reported experiencing harassment at their school within the past year based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and two-thirds said they felt unsafe at school because of who they are. Thankfully, there is legislation in Congress that would address this serious problem head on.

The Student Non-Discrimination Act, legislation currently pending in Congress, would have a profound impact in improving the lives of LGBT students in the U.S. by ensuring that discrimination and harassment of students on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity has no place in our country’s public elementary and secondary schools.

Today, on National GSA Day, please stand with the ACLU in support of LGBT students by urging your member of Congress to support the Student Non-Discrimination Act!

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According to the State Department, part of the focus initially will involve a review of existing curricula, legislation, and policies that include a component on education for respect and tolerance, as well as identifying best practices in the field.

Last September, the ACLU wrote to UNESCO on the problem of homophobic discrimination and harassment in U.S. public schools. In our comments, we offered a model federal legislative solution that would address this problem — the Student Non-Discrimination Act. This legislation would have a profound impact in improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students in the U.S. by ensuring that discrimination and harassment of students on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity has no place in our country’s public elementary and secondary schools.

This is particularly important because of the fact that no federal law expressly protects students on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Federal laws currently protect students on the basis of their race, color, sex, religion, disability and national origin.

Hopefully, as the “Teaching Respect for All” effort gets underway and best practices are developed, the Student Non-Discrimination Act will come to be seen as one of the most important steps the U.S. could take in this area, as well as serve as a best practice for other countries to follow. Teaching respect and demanding non-discrimination in schools are complementary goals that are mutually reinforcing. Please stand with the ACLU in support of LGBT students by urging your members of Congress to support the Student Non-Discrimination Act today.

In addition, join the discussion on Twitter regarding “Teaching Respect for All” and how best to address issues of intolerance and discrimination in schools by using the hashtag #dignity4all, weighing in with @StateDept, @USUNESCO, @UNESCOUSA, @Democracyis, and @Americagov.

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Some of the report’s key findings include:

• “Nearly one in 10 of elementary students in 3rd to 6th grade indicate that they do not always conform to traditional gender norms/roles. Either they are boys who others sometimes think, act or look like a girl, or they are girls who others sometimes think, act or look like a boy”;
• “Gender nonconforming students are less likely than other students to feel very safe at school, and are more likely than others to indicate they sometimes do not want to go to school because they feel unsafe or afraid there”;
• “Gender nonconforming students are also more likely than others to be called names, made fun of or bullied at least sometimes at school”; and
• “Less than half of teachers indicate that they feel comfortable responding to questions from their students about gay, lesbian or bisexual people. There was a lower level of comfort found among teachers responding to questions from their students about transgender people.”

The report, the first to take a national look at anti-LGBT bias in elementary schools, offers valuable insights into the foundations that are often laid quite early in students’ school lives that later can take on far more serious and tragic implications if left unaddressed.

Harassment and discrimination against gender nonconforming and LGBT youth, as well as those presumed to be, is clearly not something that only surfaces in middle school and high school. It’s really never too early for schools and teachers to work to foster an environment where all students feel safe and welcome. This might help to explain why, according to a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, the number of Gay-Straight Alliances in middle schools nationwide currently stands at roughly 500 (up from a mere few dozen just three years ago).

The report also shows that LGBT and gender nonconforming students are a vulnerable population in our nation’s schools, including those at the elementary level. This is a nationwide problem, impacting students coast-to-coast. As such, the solution needs to be national in scope.

The Student Non-Discrimination Act, legislation currently pending in Congress, would have a profound impact in improving the lives of LGBT students in the U.S. by ensuring that discrimination and harassment of students on the basis of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity has no place in our country’s public elementary and secondary schools. Please stand with the ACLU in support of LGBT students by urging your members of Congress to support the Student Non-Discrimination Act today.

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