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Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibits discrimination of the basis of Race, Color, or National Origin, etc. (78 Stat. 241). Statutory Law The Civil Rights Act is the beginning of many civil rights issues. Here we see the development of the platform for many disenfranchised groups. -
Tinker vs. Des Moines
Students in public schools maintain their 1st Amendment rights to freedom of speech. Rights have since been interpreted to include: voicing opinions about LGBTQ issues, the right to take the same sex to prom, etc. (393 U.S. 503). Judicial Law -
Title IX Introduced
This federal law banned discrimination based on gender including non-conformity to gender stereotypes. This mandate only protects students at schools that receive federal funding (20 U.S.C § 1681). Statutory Law -
Equal Access Act
It is against the law for any school that receives Federal financial assistance to discriminate against students who wish to conduct a meeting/club on the basis of religion, political, philosophical or other content of the speech at such meetings (20 U.S.C. § 4071). Statutory Law This law directly impacted many student organizations including Gay/Straight Alliance club and the prospective of them meeting on school property. -
Nabozny v. Podlesny 92 F. 3d 446
A federal appeals court submitted opinion that a public school could be held accountable for not stopping anti-gay abuse and all students shall have equal protection under the law (92 F. 3d 446). Judicial Law In this case the school district was held liable for not standing up for a student's rights and knowingly knew of bullying due the the sole reason that the student was gay. The school had to pay $1 million in damages to the student. -
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act Signed
This new law was signed by President Obama to establish a federal law which criminalizes causing bodily injury (or attempting with fire, firearm, or other dangerous weapon) when:
"(2) the crime was committed because of the actual or perceived ...sexual orientation, gender identity...of any person" (18 U.S.C. § 249). Statutory Law -
"Dear Colleague" Letter
Included in this "Dear Colleague" letter was information regarding the immediate action to protect students of all students including student's with non-conformity of sexual orientations (Dear Colleague Letter, 2010). Administrative Law -
"Dear Colleague" Letter
US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan wrote a Dear Colleague Letter clarifying that Gay/Straight Alliance Clubs are protected under the Equal Access Act (Dear Colleague Letter, 2011) Administrative Law -
Trump Administration Rescinds Guidelines
Under President Trump's administration, they rescind the May 2016 guidance on non-discrimination protections for transgender students. -
Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College
Educator K. Hively sued Ivy Tech Community College for employment discrimination on the basis of her sexual orientation. The case was then argued in the 7th Circuit in the Court of Appeals and the decision was granted that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discrimination on the base of sexual orientation (853 F.3d 339 (7th Cir. 2017) Judicial Law Several courts have ruled in various ways on this law. No official ruling has been made by the US Supreme Court. -
Refusal to Investigate LGBTQ Issues in Schools
The Department of Education, under Betsy DeVos, has announced their refusal to investigate alleged acts discrimination based solely on gender identity of students. https://transequality.org/the-discrimination-administration -
Student Non-Discrimination Act Reintroduced in Congress
SNDA was introduced and is still currently pending. 115th Congress: H.R. 5374; S. 2584 "This bill prohibits discrimination, under a federally assisted program, against public school students on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or that of their associates."
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/2584 -
Opposition to Equality Act
President Trump declared his opposition to the Equality Act (H.R. 5), the federal legislation that would strengthen rights for Americans who identify as LGBTQ. https://transequality.org/the-discrimination-administration -
Currently
As of date, the strides made in this area to end discrimination of LGBTQ students are slowly being stripped away. With laws in place, but with little to no enforcement, students continue to feel like a marginalized society with little to no say. LGBTQ Students face harassment and bullying at a staggering scale.