Seth's Law, Measure Designed To Curb Anti-Gay Bullying, Passes California State Senate

On Friday, the California State Senate approved Seth's Law (AB 9), a bill designed to crack down on the harassment of LGBT students in the state's schools.

Named after the 13-year old Seth Walsh, the gay junior high student who took his own life last year after facing constant harassment from bullies at his school in Tehachapi, California, the bill was authored by State Assemblymember Tom Ammiano.

The National Center For Lesbian Rights reports:

AB 9 would ensure that every school in California implements updated anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies and programs that include actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, as well as race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, disability, and religion. It would also empower students and parents to know what their rights are and how to advocate for them.

"I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate for taking this important step forward to ensuring that schools have the necessary tools to prevent any young person from being bullied, harassed or worse because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression," said Ammiano in a press release. "As a former teacher, I know how important it is for our students to feel safe at school. We have a moral duty to our youth to prevent bullying and Seth's Law will help schools protect students, and prevent and respond to bullying before a tragedy occurs."

Time Magazine reports:

Under current law, requirements are vague, and only some schools address complaints of bullying. Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, says that means the bill will help combat a troubling trend: 80% of gay students nationwide report that school employees do little or nothing to stop antigay behavior when they witness it.

In a recent study by the California Safe Schools Coalition found that nearly half of of California students who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual have been the victims of gender-based harassment—that number jumps to over 60 percent for transgender students.

Comments

[pumpdatbass420]

05:11 PM on 10/17/2011

What they need to do is stop babying the kids at school.
Now am I saying let the kid get bullied on? No. I'm thinking we should go back to the early 1900's way of discipline at school. Kids do whatever they want in school now-a-days, BECAUSE THERE ARE NO CONSEQUENCES! Beat the little %^@#*!$ within an inch of their lives. Well, maybe not that drastic, but break out the ruler on the kids or something. All this so-called "disciplinary action" in schools today is garbage and it's only further promoting anarchy in schools. Quiet anarchy, but anarchy none the less.

[bengfrorer]

05:44 PM on 09/21/2011

Shame on them for naming their sone Seth. The egyptian equivilent of satan. Imagine "Satans law" Satan felt bullied in heaven, so he fought a war and lost but now he has his own law.

Im not religious. Too many laws are named after people. How about legalize Pot and call it Thomas Jeffersons law (that would pass) and Legalize LSD and call it Timothy's law (sounds like a nice child that died or something, that would pass). Legalize steroids and call it Arnold's Law (sounds like a nerd that was picked on). Legalize Prostitution and call it Charlie Sheens Law. You get the idea.

News announcer "I'd like to issue an Amber Alert. Amber, get out of my house; my wifes coming home."

[Mitchell Gilbert]

07:39 PM on 09/15/2011

It's Not "Christianity" It's Just Hate; Let's Treat It As Such! http://wp.me/p1Jt6N-6r /via @wordpressdotcom

[sdmokhiber]

07:58 AM on 09/12/2011

We used to have special laws protecting the white peoples seats on buses. But then we realized it was illegal for the government to regulate where we sit. Let people fight over their own seat with out government interference.

[JBaker]

12:03 PM on 09/13/2011

Throughout U.S. history it is the government that enforced discrimination, and was anything but a passive observer.

A child deserves to attend school without being bullied. Children do not supervise each other, that is the role of adults. You would abdicate that responsibility in favor of a moral jungle.

[BurtonDesque]

05:50 AM on 09/12/2011

Perhaps bullies should just have adult assault laws applied to them instead.

[talkstocoyotes]

04:44 PM on 09/11/2011

For some perspective in this, I highly recommend checking out the previous comments in the profiles of posters who insist that this law is discriminatory or that the law gives "special" protections to gays. Posts tend to be consistent.

[sdmokhiber]

01:09 PM on 09/11/2011

America is waaaaay to sensitive. The government does not NEED to regulate our kids behavior that is for the parent. If you want the government to parent your children then you shouldn't have children. If you don't have children and you want the government to parent other peoples children, you are a bit of a hypocrite.

[bluntobject]

08:26 PM on 09/11/2011

OK, let's assume you're correct. That's a HUGE assumption too. If the Government does not need to regulate our kid's behaviors when it comes to this sort of issue (and issue that definitely infringes on the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of another/s), and the parents are just as bad if not worse when it comes to teaching hatred of gays and lesbians (or at the very least tolerating it), and THEN, one of those hate-filled kids goes out and regularly taunts and bullies the targeted gay kid to the point of him/her committing suicide --- who punishes that bully? The parents? Hardly. The State? Not nearly enough if at all without laws on the books to make that a crime. If you are so worried about the welfare of "kids" in general, then why do you single out "gay kids" as an OK target for discrimination and maltreatment? I would say the same thing if a gay kid was bullying a straight kid too. It cuts both ways.

[sdmokhiber]

11:03 PM on 09/11/2011

I have not and will not single out any group of kids as "OK" for discrimination. If someone kills themself that is on them. I am against discrimination.

You can't blame someone for anothers action. That is the problem with a lot of these new socialist regulations they treat people as a group not as an individual. Suicide is not homicide, learn the difference.

As far as bullying, if it rises to the level of harassment or defamation then there is something to prosecute. If not then we should not make new laws in which people are prosecuted differently because they are normal, let it cut both way.

[bluntobject]

01:51 AM on 09/12/2011

By example of all you have said on the subject, you are singling out a specific group of kids for discrimination. Oh you can keep lying to yourself and everyone else saying you aren't, but it is obvious that is what you are all about. You can not rationalize bigotry. Sorry

[JRogers39]

06:16 PM on 09/21/2011

Can I assume you would oppose bigotry towards Christian students as well? I think though the word "bigot" or "bigotry" is thrown around way too casually. It is entirely inappropriate to blame other children for another child killing themselves. The person, of whatever age, who commits suicide did so of their own accord and no one can be blamed for them taking such drastic action but the person who took that drastic action. Btw, your tag line of "religious intolerance will not be tolerated" is an oxymoron..sort of like military intelligence or honest politicians. I had to admit it's odd that every time there is some sort of problem people like passing a law will solve the problem..nope, all it does is create a few more to take the place of the original problem.

[been2there]

08:34 PM on 09/06/2011

Any kind of bullying needs to be curbed, but anti-gay bullying and its evil twin, sexual harassment are the most serious at the moment. Folks, it begins at home, and it is utterly irrational. My son is a very gifted flutist, and in first and second grade was enduring anti-gay bullying based solely on that!
Anti-intellectual bullying is often disguised as anti-gay/sexual bullying, and and all three need to be stopped.

[bluntobject]

08:28 PM on 09/11/2011

Agree 100% f/fv.

[silverlake3]

06:45 PM on 09/05/2011

We do not need more complicated laws on this issue protecting one group or another. Just institute a zero tolerance anti bullying law that applies to everyone. You bully someone and you are expelled from school for a year and make the parents financially liable for any damages done the one being bullied.

[TBJ]

10:33 AM on 09/06/2011

"80% of gay students nationwide report that school employees do little or nothing to stop antigay behavior when they witness it."

Clearly it has to be specified that bullying someone for being gay isn't acceptable.

[talkstocoyotes]

04:41 PM on 09/10/2011

But comments like this are so predictable, aren't they? I have no way of knowing what percentage of people who insist that 'bullying is bad all around but we needn't single out The Homosexuals' expressed any concern about bullying before GLBT youth became the focus; but I'd bet it's in the single digits.

[cable1977]

02:14 PM on 09/06/2011

But, if you actually read the law, you will find out that it is not designed to protect any one particular group. It is designed to build upon previous legislation that addressed bullying, but failed to provide a sufficient framework for implementation.

http://www.eqca.org/atf/cf/%7B34F258B3-8482-4943-91CB-08C4B0246A88%7D/AB_9_Fact_Sheet_v2[1].pdf

Although the law has its genesis in the bullying of a LGBT youth, it's protections cover all those who may be bullied against, specifically calling for policy communication and harassment complaint procedures.

[Atwill]

02:15 PM on 09/05/2011

The biggest bullies are in the pulpit. These are the ones who need to be silenced. We need a law stating that they can not speard their hate and encourage / advocate violence towards gays. Any and all ministers/ religious leaders, no matter the religion, who spew hate and anti - gay bible nonsense towards gay teens, (under 18) need to be arrested for being a bully and child abuse. This is where it starts and this is where we need to stop it. People like Fred Phelps and othes like this who spread hate, need to be arrested.

[Erin84]

11:16 PM on 09/05/2011

Atwill did not prove your point. The gay rights movement is not about squashing free speech. Atwill is one person who just made a huge mistake in understanding our Constitution, and I was going to respond to that very point. No, we cannot stifle private speech and most of us don't want to. That includes gay rights activists. Atwill does not speak for us, and you know it.

[cable1977]

02:53 PM on 09/06/2011

"Thank you for proving my point"

How does Atwill's statement speak for the whole of the gay rights movement? How do you come to a generalization of a group of millions of people from the words of a single individual?

Let's examine, specifically what Atwill said:

"Any and all ministers/ religious leaders, no matter the religion, who spew hate and anti - gay bible nonsense towards gay teens, (under 18) need to be arrested for being a bully and child abuse. "

Now that could be taken in several ways. The first being making such statements from a pulpit, which would be protected speech. The second would be in making such statements directly to LGBT youth which could easily constitute harassment and enable subsequent arrest. Your right to free speech ends when you impugn upon the rights of others. One could also make a case that such speech could, in certain cases, be taken as an incitement to violence, depending on the speech used.

The rules change when you are dealing with juveniles compared to adults as well. What may be acceptable and protected speech to an adult may not be acceptable towards a juvenile.

The First Amendment is not a catch all that protects you from any and all consequences related to speech. I, for one, think that organizations that are going to choose to be discriminatory should have their tax-free status revoked. You have a right to free speech, but certainly not a right to avoid paying taxes.

[been2there]

08:35 PM on 09/06/2011

Sorry, Atwill, but that is protected free speech. It was not that long ago that, using the same "reasoning" those advocating for gay rights would have been silenced. Freedom can be very messy and inconvenient.

[cable1977]

11:16 PM on 09/06/2011

"Sorry, Atwill, but that is protected free speech."

Actually, it depends upon the forum in which the speech is occurring. Hate speech from a pulpit is protected, provided it does not incite violence. However, hate speech directly towards an adolescent, in an abusive/bullying manner, could easily be considered harassment, subject to potential arrest. Since Atwill did not directly specify the forum, there are certainly conditions where his argument would be entirely constitutional.

[Atwill]

07:35 AM on 09/07/2011

If a person hears this nonsesne and then goes out and does a hate crime of bullies someone then the minister should be held responsible. Ever hear of Jonestown or Waco?

[sdmokhiber]

02:19 AM on 09/05/2011

When you make a law protecting a certain group what you are really doing is erroding the rights of others who aren't protected under that law.

[CrazyThisIs]

03:58 AM on 09/05/2011

Who isn't protected under the anti bullying laws now, in California? This was just a supplement to update those that weren't originally recognized or where school administrators had questions. Just getting everyone up to speed on protecting ALL children.

[sdmokhiber]

11:36 AM on 09/05/2011

That is a good way for them to spin it. So now it's like restraining order for children and if you have ever seen a divorce you know the first person to allege "victim status" it is the winner.

Ask yourself is this law really necessary. While a very few children might need real protection did we NEED a law that effects every single person in the state? No. It's over reaching and intrusive. One measure of over reaching government laws is, what is the repercussion for lying? In a divorce, restraining order are often used as a weapon and there isn't a repercussion for lying. Who is to say a real bully doesn't allege that a victim was the bully. Can you tell me what fail-safes have been built into this measure or did we all just think it sounded so great we didn't ask any questions.

[felliott]

11:24 AM on 09/05/2011

"When you make a law protecting a certain group what you are really doing is erroding the rights of others who aren't protected under that law."

This law protects everyone. it protects straight students harassed by gay students and vice versa. the title of the article is misleading.

[sdmokhiber]

12:01 PM on 09/05/2011

It's not just the title, I read the whole article. It appeared to be a law protecting gay students. Maybe the article wasn't clear on the facts. But here is the problem, if we already have laws on the book against harassment why do we need this law. If all students are covered, ask yourself who isn't covered by this law and those are the people who rights are being erroded.

[brokerthanu]

10:39 PM on 09/04/2011

Of course the xtians are going to hate this and get up in arms about it. They see their privileges, in this case their privilege to scapegoat others, being slowly whittled away. It must be so difficult to see that the next generation of bully kids, their kids, aren't going to have their place of privilege reserved for them.

[bluntobject]

08:38 PM on 09/11/2011

Let's hope so!!!!! fv!

[NamithaSF]

08:52 PM on 09/04/2011

So it would still be legal to bully straight people? LOL

[MuscleJockTX]

08:57 PM on 09/04/2011

Awesome!

[CrazyThisIs]

10:16 PM on 09/04/2011

Nope, as per the article, this law protects all kids some of which are bullied for reasons which "include actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, as well as race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, disability, and religion."

No child should be bullied for any reason. Some groups of children are more likely to be bullied for the reasons which are listed ,and the laws are put in place to make sure that teachers and students alike know where the boundaries lie.

[NamithaSF]

10:24 PM on 09/04/2011

Nope yourself. Many kids are bullied simply because the bully perceives them as weak.
The language you quote is definitely exclusionary to white, straight kids. The parents of a straight white kid would have a very difficuly time trying to get a school to align this law with their kid.

[Mark Santeramo]

08:05 PM on 09/04/2011

As a tea her myself, can someone please e plain to me why we consistently have to separate gay people from the overall group and give them special treatment? For example, if two straigbwt kids get into a fight than its considered normal but if one of those kids is gay it is a hate crime. Instead of then having the same punishment for both incidents, the student that beat up the gay child now gets a more severe penalty. Honestly, how xoes that make any sense? Ib wait, it doesn not, thus proving once again that our nation needs to thi k and act competently as opposed to worrying about being politically correct.

It amazes me how LGBT people want to be treated equally yet when it comes to certain things they demand unique action. People are all the same, either man or woman or boy and girl...to constantly subdivide people by race or whatever is to separate them and that just does not make sense.

[HotelDrama]

12:44 AM on 09/05/2011

Lets see, we have official govt polices that discriminate against certain peoples because of things like sex, race, and sexual orientation. Because of these policies, certain groups of people "demand unique action" to try to fix the policies that are treating people differently. We needed laws on the books giving women the right to vote (ie a "unique action") because they were denied that right. We needed laws on the books to give African Americans equal rights because there were laws on denying them equality. We aren't separating people, our govt is. We need to pass laws protecting the LGBTQ community because it is still legal to discriminate against them because of their sexual orientation.

Our Constitution guarantees all the same and equal rights. However, it seems that our elected rulers have failed to make sure all have equal rights. These laws are trying to fix that problem.

And your example of the fight really shows a naive understanding of what a hate crime is.

[LLovejoy]

06:53 PM on 09/06/2011

Fanned.

[talkstocoyotes]

04:47 PM on 09/10/2011

Fanned here too. Very good response.

[drmindhealer]

11:43 AM on 09/05/2011

Hopefully you don't teach English because you didn't spell check your post. Where do you get "special treatment" in all of this when all it does is add LGBTQ youth to all the other groups protected. "...as well as race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, disability, and religion. It would also empower students and parents to know what their rights are and how to advocate for them." I don't see why that should be a big deal unless you have a problem yourself with LGBT people. If two white kids get into a fight, it isn't "normal" nor is it supposed to be accepted which is why there are rules against fighting in school. Further, bullying can happen to a kid at any time even for something as simple as what a parent does for a living, lack of parents, economics, etc. ALL kids need a safety net and that you would exclude one group of kids troubles me deeply given your chosen profession.

[Erin84]

11:33 PM on 09/05/2011

*Correction: "All the old bullying laws still apply." (? wasn't supposed to be there. It should have been at the end of "special treatment.")

[dtjacobson]

12:57 PM on 09/04/2011

This legislation is long overdue and corrects the CA Education Code to be in line with a number of legal decisions on the same issue. It's a shame that it has taken the deaths of children such as Seth Walsh in Tehachapi and Lawrence King in Oxnard to move this legislation forward.

[Ioan Lightoller]

04:26 AM on 09/05/2011

Fanned and faved. I am glad to see this law passed. There should be a law like it in every state of the union. It's past time to let our GLBT kids (or any other kids) be harassed for who they are.