Late Friday afternoon the White
House announced that President Obama will endorse two pending Congressional
anti-bullying bills, the Safe Schools Improvement Act (S. 506) and the Student
Non-Discrimination Act (S. 555), which help to make schools safer for LGBT
students. The news came on the same day the White House’s Office of Public
Engagement held a screening of the movie Bully.
“The president and his administration have taken many steps
to address the issue of bullying,” said Shin Inouye, Director of Specialty
Media, speaking on behalf of the administration. “He is proud to support the
Student Non-Discrimination Act, introduced by Senator Franken and Congressman
Polis, and the Safe Schools Improvement Act, introduced by Senator Casey and
Congresswoman Linda Sanchez. These bills will help ensure that all students are
safe and healthy and can learn in environments free from discrimination,
bullying and harassment.”
SSIA currently has 39 Senate co-sponsors and 147 House co-sponsors.
SNDA has 37 co-sponsors in the Senate and 157 co-sponsors in the House.
"I'm extremely pleased that President Obama has
endorsed my Student Non-Discrimination Act, which will help ensure that LBGT
students can attend school free of harassment, discrimination and violence,”
said Rep. Polis in a statement following the President’s endorsement. “This
endorsement is an enormous step forward for equality, but on a human level it
is about the right of any student in America to attend school and learn without
the fear of being bullied.”
Take Action: Take
a few minutes to contact
your own Congressmembers to urge them to support these two critical bills.
SSIA will ensure all public schools have bullying and harassment prevention
programs, and SNDA will add sexual orientation and gender identity federal
protections for LGBT students to ensure a safer learning environment for all.
Tell your Congressmembers to join our president and stand up for the rights for
all youth nationwide!
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