WESTMINSTER - Congressman Jared Polis introduced H.R. 1450, known as "The Student Anti-Discrimination Act", in January, two months before anyone outside of Fulton, Miss. knew the name Constance McMillen.
But McMillen's story, that of an 18-year-old lesbian who wanted to bring her girlfriend to prom and the school district that canceled the prom for the entire school, has gotten national attention -- and, Polis said, highlighted anew the need for his bill, which would extend civil rights protections to students who are discriminated against based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
"What a shame that the school district said no prom for anybody," Polis said. "No one's going to have any fun, just because they didn't like the date one girl was taking. I mean, what a ridiculous example of why we need to protect kids from this kind of thing -- and, obviously, there's a lot more serious cases than that. In other cases, gay and lesbian kids are getting beat up and even killed."
Polis points to the murder of Larry King, 15, an openly gay student who was shot in the head and killed by a classmate while sitting in his Oxnard, Calif. classroom in February 2008 -- evidence that while society continues to accept more openly gay and lesbians in television shows like "Glee" and "Will and Grace", public schools remain rather unwelcoming places for teenagers struggling to come to terms with their sexual identity.
"Kids go to school every day worried about being beaten up and sometimes they drop out as a result," said Polis, who is openly gay.
While Federal civil rights statutes expressly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin, they do not explicitly include sexual orientation or gender identity and, as a result, LGBT students and parents have often had limited legal recourse for this kind of discrimination.
Polis's bill, which now has 60 co-sponsors, would change that.
"If there's a kid who's being picked on because they're gay, or beaten up, sometimes they'll go to a teacher, go to a faculty, and they won't do anything," he said. "They don't take any action. This will give that kid some protection and make sure they have the right to go to school and be safe just like every other kid."
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But McMillen's story, that of an 18-year-old lesbian who wanted to bring her girlfriend to prom and the school district that canceled the prom for the entire school, has gotten national attention -- and, Polis said, highlighted anew the need for his bill, which would extend civil rights protections to students who are discriminated against based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
"What a shame that the school district said no prom for anybody," Polis said. "No one's going to have any fun, just because they didn't like the date one girl was taking. I mean, what a ridiculous example of why we need to protect kids from this kind of thing -- and, obviously, there's a lot more serious cases than that. In other cases, gay and lesbian kids are getting beat up and even killed."
Polis points to the murder of Larry King, 15, an openly gay student who was shot in the head and killed by a classmate while sitting in his Oxnard, Calif. classroom in February 2008 -- evidence that while society continues to accept more openly gay and lesbians in television shows like "Glee" and "Will and Grace", public schools remain rather unwelcoming places for teenagers struggling to come to terms with their sexual identity.
"Kids go to school every day worried about being beaten up and sometimes they drop out as a result," said Polis, who is openly gay.
While Federal civil rights statutes expressly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin, they do not explicitly include sexual orientation or gender identity and, as a result, LGBT students and parents have often had limited legal recourse for this kind of discrimination.
Polis's bill, which now has 60 co-sponsors, would change that.
"If there's a kid who's being picked on because they're gay, or beaten up, sometimes they'll go to a teacher, go to a faculty, and they won't do anything," he said. "They don't take any action. This will give that kid some protection and make sure they have the right to go to school and be safe just like every other kid."
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