Further proof of GOP animus towards gays and the GOP desire to keep a target ring on the backs of LGBT school students, the Kentucky House Education Committee on a party line vote killed a bill to expand anti-bullying laws by linking harassment to sexual orientation, race and other characteristics. Needless to say, it was Republicans who killed the measure even after hearing the tearful testimony of parents who had lost children to bullying induced suicide. It's sad and disgusting, but all too symptomatic of a Republican Party controlled by far right religious extremists who want to keep LGBT individuals open game for bullying and discrimination. Even as the bigots pat themselves on the back for their "godliness and piety." The Louisville Courier-Journal has details on this latest travesty. Here are highlights:
The GOP - today's party of hate and bigotry.
A bill to expand anti-bullying laws by linking harassment to sexual orientation, race and other characteristics died in the House Education Committee on Tuesday after meeting opposition from Republicans.
House Bill 336 — sponsored by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville — needed 15 votes to move out of the committee. Lawmakers voted 13-10, largely along party lines, with three members passing.
The measure called for a prohibition on bullying and harassment in schools, including acts motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disabilities and other distinguishing characteristics.
“I’m astounded at the lack of compassion among Republicans who claim to care about people, but obviously they don’t,” Marzian said after the meeting. “It’s typical of their all talk and no action.”
For nearly an hour Tuesday, parents of bullying victims implored lawmakers to pass the bill, recounting stories of how their children committed suicide in the face of persistent harassment from peers.
Travis Campbell said his 14-year-old daughter, Miranda, fatally shot herself in February after classmates in her Hopkinsville high school taunted her for being bisexual. Campbell, who still carries the bullet in his pocket, said teachers “couldn’t or wouldn’t” protect his daughter.
Darryl Denham struggled to hold back tears as he recalled how his 13-year-old son, Sam, committed suicide in October after being harassed and assaulted at Woodland Middle School in Covington.
“If this law were to pass, then we would be placing into our school statutes, for the first time in our history, gay rights language,” he [Rep. C.B. Embry Jr., R-Morgantown] said. “Why don’t we protect all students?”
Marzian called that argument “a smokescreen for these people that are so homophobic.”
She said the group identifications allow the law to recognize characteristics that bullies often seize on for harassment and do not create special protections for any class of students.
The GOP - today's party of hate and bigotry.
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