Anti-bullying bill leaves out trans protections

Posted on 18 Nov 2010 at 4:48pm

http://www.dallasvoice.com/antibullying-bill-leaves-trans-protections-1052951.html

Later today the Dallas ISD's board of trustees will vote on a bullying policy that, if approved, would make the district the first in the state to specifically outlaw bullying based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.

Obviously one of the keys here is gender identity/expression, which covers not only students who are transgender, but also students who are perceived by classmates as not meeting gender stereotypes. Clearly, this is a major factor behind bullying — students who are made fun of, for example, for being "sissies" or "tomboys."

So why, then, would a state representative who is considered an LGBT ally file an anti-bullying bill that includes sexual orientation but NOT gender identity/expression?