Mass. stalled antibullying guide under Romney
Objections to writing 'transgender,' 'bisexual'
By Murray Waas and Christopher Rowland
Globe Correspondent | Globe Staff
June 12, 2012
http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2012/06/11/mitt-romney-administration-stifled-antibullying-guide-over-language-bisexual-transgender-youth/4GDs8p0YgnxObxuHUpPWaK/story.htmlFormer governor Mitt Romney's administration in 2006 blocked publication of a state antibullying guide for Massachusetts public schools because officials objected to use of the terms "bisexual'' and "transgender'' in passages about protecting certain students from harassment, according to state records and interviews with current and former state officials.
Romney aides said publicly at the time that publication of the guide had been delayed because it was a lengthy document that required further review. But an e-mail authored in May of that year by a high-ranking Department of Public Health official - and obtained last week by the Globe through a public records request - reflected a different reason.
"Because this is using the terms 'bisexual' and 'transgendered,' DPH's name may not be used in this publication,'' wrote the official, Alda Rego-Weathers, then the deputy commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Because the Department of Public Health was the primary sponsor and funding source of the guide, the move effectively blocked its publication.
