National LGBTQ Groups Partner to Report Anti-Gay Bullying

Posted Friday, September 24, 2010 by Matt Comer

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  • National LGBTQ Groups Partner to Report Anti-Gay Bullying

Two national LGBTQ groups have partnered to offer young people opportunities to report and document anti-gay bias and harassment incidents.

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) say their Claim Your Rights campaign is a historic effort to empower students to report bullying and harassment to the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.

The campaign’s release comes on the heels of two studies with in-depth reports on anti-LGBTQ campus climates in the nation’s high schools, colleges and universities. One report, issued by GLSEN, says 9 out of 10 students regularly face harassment while at school. The second, by Campus Pride, documents increased anti-LGBT experiences by over 6,000 college and university students, faculty, and staff.

“With fewer than one in five LGBT students saying their school specifically protect students from anti-LGBT bullying and harassment, it comes as no surprise that nearly two-thirds of LGBT students who experience harassment do not report the incident to school staff,” GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard said in a release. “The Claim Your Rights campaign provides students a safe way to report bullying and harassment.”

PFLAG Executive Director Jody Huckaby says reporting to the Education Department creates a record confirming the harassment and discrimination, which has already been proven through research and personal narratives.

“It is our hope that our colleagues within the Obama administration and our elected officials will take action immediately to remedy these disparities that far too many LGBT students experience daily,” Huckaby says.

The new campaign also comes with a toolkit and instructions on how to submit online reports of bulling and harassment.

Matt Comer is a staff writer for Campus Progress.

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