March 2, 2010

>Missouri Students Cram School Board Meeting to Advocate for Adding Sexual Orientation to Non-Discrimination Policy

>When hundreds of high school students show up to attend an evening school board meeting, they have something on their minds. For students at Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Mo., it was the widely visible mistreatment of their peers that packed them into their school gymnasium Monday night with 940 student signatures in support of adding sexual orientation to the district’s non-discrimination policy.

That evening students approached the podium with stories of struggle and angst about their experiences as LGBT students, while others read letters from former students who were tormented throughout their high school days by bullying based on their sexual orientation.

While the school board won’t vote on this policy change until May, Andy Gaglio, co-president of his GSA, believes the irrefutable display of student support speaks for itself.

You can’t end discrimination with two words, but you can really show we will not stand for this.
…
Those two words, on paper, fortified in our policy, would be huge in trying to get rid of the ignorance, and the bigotry, and the hate that exists.

   

About Elizabeth Free

       

Elizabeth Free is the communications manager at GLSEN--the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. Elizabeth joined GLSEN in 2009 to make schools safer for all students and says one of the best parts of her job is working with GLSEN's Student Ambassadors. She is originally from Texas and has a B.A. in Public Relations and Advertising from the University of Houston.