Justice Department Intervenes In Gay Rights Suit

In a surprising move, the Obama justice Department has intervened in a lawsuit brought by an upstate New York and his family against a public school division that has allowed the student to be constantly bullied by anti-gay bigots. In truth, the reality why so many school systems either have no anti-bully policies in place or do not bother to enforce them is because all too often there is no consequence that hits home for such inaction. NPR reports that the the case represents the first time in a decade that Justice Department lawyers have moved to intervene in a lawsuit on behalf of a gay high school student who was beaten up for being effeminate. Moreover, the case marks a novel interpretation of the Title IX statute, which prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of gender. In my view, affording gays equal protection and equal rights is a trial of whether the USA actually is what it likes to see itself as. All too often, the promise of the U.S. Constitution leaves us out. Here are some highlights from the NPR story:
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The case centers around a 15-year-old named Jacob who lives in the town of Mohawk in upstate New York. His family requested that Jacob be identified only by his first name.
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Sullivan described taking his son to the hospital: "It was a really bad sprain. They put a cast on it, gave him crutches. And shortly after that, I found out that it didn't happen at the party. It happened at the school, because somebody had pushed him down the stairs."
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Over two years, Sullivan went to his son's school three or four times a week to talk with the principal. According to court papers, officials did nothing. The harassment became so bad that Jacob changed school districts. With the help of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Sullivan eventually sued.
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School superintendent Joyce Caputo was at a conference Friday and was unavailable for comment. In August, she told the local newspaper, "Our district has not and will not knowingly tolerate discrimination or harassment of its students by anybody."
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Now the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has asked a judge for permission to intervene on Jacob's behalf. "We haven't seen this kind of involvement in quite some time," says Hayley Gorenberg of Lambda Legal, a national gay rights legal organization. "It's a long time coming, and we really need it."
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Republicans who worked in the Civil Rights Division under previous administrations agree that this is a case conservatives generally would not make. The Justice Department's argument hinges on a broad reading of the law known as Title IX. Title IX is typically used to protect students from gender discrimination, but in this case, Obama administration lawyers argue that the law also covers discrimination based on gender stereotypes — that is to say, boys who are beaten up for being effeminate.
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"We have clear interpretations out of many federal courts that clearly set forth that Title IX protects against sex stereotyping," she [Gorenberg of Lambda Legal]says. While some courts have ruled that Title IX covers gender expression and sexual orientation, the law remains murky in this area. Gay and lesbian advocates hope this will be the case that establishes the principle more firmly.