Why Do Jason Schultz and Matt Windschitl Hate LGBT Students?

7 February 2010

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ZJ: The Iowa Safe Schools Law mandates that all public and private schools in Iowa adopt a comprehensive anti-bullying policy. These policies must prohibit harassment based on certain traits or characteristics. This includes race, gender, religion, age, national origin, disability, ancestry, socioeconomic status, political belief, physical attributes, and sexual orientation and gender identity.

Recently, Iowa State Representatives Jason Schultz and Matt Windschitl introduced H.F. 2291. This would specifically repeal the requirement for protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity. As the bill itself explains:

This bill strikes sexual orientation and gender identity from the definition of the term "trait or characteristic of the student" used for purposes of protecting students in public and nonpublic schools from harassment and bullying.

Why would they do that? If protections for sexual orientation and gender identity are specifically removed while the rest of the provisions are left intact, this implies that harassment based on race or religion must be prohibited, but harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity doesn't need to be. But why should bullying due to sexual orientation or gender identity be considered any more legally acceptable than bullying due to gender or disability?

In fact, these protections are especially necessary due to the abnormally high levels of harassment experienced by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. 86% of LGBT students have reported being harassed at school because of their sexual orientation, and 66% because of their gender identity. 32% of them have missed school out of fear for their personal safety, compared to a national average of 5%. And in schools with policies explicitly prohibiting bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity, LGBT students experience lower levels of harassment.

These policies serve a valuable purpose, and so does the law that mandates them. It is essential that schools are a safe place for every student to receive an education. It's difficult to learn in an environment where your safety is in question. And the absence of protections for sexual orientation and gender identity would mean more bullying and harassment of LGBT students.

So why do Jason Schultz and Matt Windschitl want to remove these protections from the students who need them most? I've asked them via email, but I have yet to receive a response as of this time. Perhaps you'd like to ask them. Go ahead, send them a message, and politely ask them why they think it's necessary to stop protecting students from anti-gay harassment. And if they actually have an answer, let us know how they try to explain this.

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