The New York Times (11/6, Eckholm) reported, "Alarmed by evidence that gay and lesbian students are common victims of schoolyard bullies, many school districts are bolstering their anti-harassment rules with early lessons in tolerance, explaining that some children have 'two moms' or will grow up to love members of the same sex. But such efforts to teach acceptance of homosexuality, which have gained urgency after several well-publicized suicides by gay teenagers, are provoking new culture wars in some communities." The Times added, "Angry parents and religious critics, while agreeing that schoolyard harassment should be stopped, charge that liberals and gay rights groups are using the anti-bullying banner to pursue a hidden 'homosexual agenda,' implicitly endorsing, for example, same-sex marriage."
Anti-Gay Bullying Not A "Gay Issue," Advocate Says. Maureen Costello, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance project, wrote in Massachusetts' Herald News (11/7, Costello) that anti-gay bullying is not "just a 'gay issue,'" because it is often "directed at straight students who are perceived as gay." She points out that several studies have shown "that students report less bullying at schools with policies that specify certain types of bullying compared to schools with policies that don't." Such policies have been endorsed by the NEA and several other parent and educator groups. Costello concludes, "All school districts should adopt anti-bullying policies that specifically protect LGBT students. Until they do, thousands of children will continue to suffer violence and humiliation."
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