Department of Education To Address Anti-Gay Bullying; Meanwhile Tony Perkins' Tells Gay Teens They're "Abnormal"

It's really difficult to describe my loathing and feelings of utter disgust when I hear the vicious, hate-filled bullshit that emanates nearly daily from Family Research Council ("FRC") and its racist, homophobic douche bag leader Tony Perkins. Even as the U. S. Department of Education is very belatedly taking steps to prod schools and universities to address the issue of bullying and anti-gay bullying in particular, Perkins is uttering derogatory anti-gay statements as if he hopes more gay teens will decide to end their lives rather than live in a society full of the venom and hatred which are the stock in trade of FRC. Legitimate news media outlets need to stop affording a platform to Perkins and similar hate merchants. As noted, on the positive front, the Department of Education is reminding schools and universities of the duties under federal statutes and making it clear that a failure to seriously address bullying and bigotry could impact the availability of federal funds for the offending schools and universities. These highlights come from The Advocate:
*
The U.S. Department of Education launched an effort Tuesday to outline educators’ responsibilities in combating bullying and specifically informing them that, in many cases, Title IX applies to and prohibits the harassment of LGBT kids if it is sexual in nature or based on gender nonconformity.
*
In a letter distributed to about 15,000 school districts across the country plus colleges and universities that receive federal funding, [Education Department Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Russlynn] Ali wrote, “Although Title IX does not prohibit discrimination based solely on sexual orientation, Title IX does protect all students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, from sex discrimination … The fact that the harassment includes anti-LGBT comments or is partly based on the target’s actual or perceived sexual orientation does not relieve a school of its obligation under Title IX to investigate and remedy overlapping sexual harassment or gender-based harassment.”

*

The “dear colleague” letter included a hand full of hypothetical harassment scenarios that would violate federal statutes.
*
Institutions that receive complaints but fail to take action to protect students who are being unlawfully bullied or harassed could face legal action or financial penalties. Ali said those cases could be referred to the Department of Justice for litigation or they could result “in the withdrawal or termination or conditioning of all federal funds received from the Department of Education.”
*
At almost the same time that the Department of Education is taking these positive steps, Tony Perkins is trashing LGBT youth during an interview on NPR that included Tammy Aaberg whose son Justin committed suicide due to anti-gay bullying that went unheeded by his school. Here's the bullshit that's all too typical of Perkins and his fellow modern day Pharisees of the Christian Right:
*
Conservative religious groups such as Focus on the Family want to stop what they see as an attempt by gay rights organizations to get a foothold in public schools. Tony Perkins, president of the evangelical Family Research Council, says gay activists are exploiting the concern over bullying — and twisting the facts. "There's no correlation between inacceptance of homosexuality and depression and suicide," he says. Rather, Perkins says, there is another factor that leads kids to kill themselves.
*
"These young people who identify as gay or lesbian, we know from the social science that they have a higher propensity to depression or suicide because of that internal conflict," he says.
*
Homosexuality is "abnormal," he says, and kids know it, which leads them to despair. That's why he wants to confront gay activism in public schools. For example, his group supports the Day of Truth, when Christian high-schoolers make their case that homosexuality is a sin.