No big deal if gay kids are bullied

The school anti-bullying bill failed in North Carolina last week. This was even after the bill was stripped of the enumerated classes section so that it didn't specifically mention gay kids. The reason for failure is that seven Democratic senators supporting the bill purposefully failed to show up for the vote, even though 75% of the state's voters want it. Which means we're back to the issue of why Democrats are so scared of Fundies.

In hopes of getting the bill passed, Jim Neal told this story of his kids being bullied. Neal is a single father who is gay. He has some access to the legislators because he made a run for the US Senate (which implies he has served in gov't in some capacity). When Neal announced there were no other Dem candidates to face Liddy Dole but once he said he was gay the Dems found several other candidates to run against him in the primary and he lost. The winner was one of those who didn't show up for this vote.

Neal's two sons were bullied because he is gay. The boys soon learned that telling teachers and guidance counselors didn't help. The older one, 11 years old, was caught with an unloaded pellet gun. That means the system failed the boy quite thoroughly.

The bill had been stripped of enumerated classes and still failed. However, GLSEN reports that an anti-bullying law without enumerated classes is the same as no law at all. Enumerations are there to force bigoted teachers to protect all kids, not just the white Christian ones. Without the force of law will teachers and administrators be able to stand against the Fundies any better than the lawmakers could? A superintendent has even publicly stated he won't add enumerations to the local policy until forced by the state and a school board member has said it is no big deal if gay kids are bullied because they are sinners (though in the case of Jim Neal's son's it was because their father is a sinner).