Over the past year, the national spotlight has focused on the deeply tragic stories of young people who were so severely bullied based on their real or perceived sexual orientation that they took the desperate step of ending their own lives.

These tragedies were entirely preventable. Schools were not protecting these children -- some as young as 11-years-old. For them, school was not the safe place of learning and growth that it should be, but a place of anguish and fear. A recent survey of more than 7,000 middle and high school students last year and found that nearly 9 in 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students had experienced harassment at school and nearly two-thirds felt unsafe because of their sexual orientation.

That’s why we need strong laws in place to prevent the harassment of LGBT students, and why we need to pass the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which I introduced earlier this year.

What does the Student Non-Discrimination Act do?

• The Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition against discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. It would forbid schools from discriminating against LGBT students or ignoring harassing behavior.

• SNDA would also provide meaningful and effective remedies (loss of federal funding and a legal cause of action for victims) for discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, modeled after Title IX

Supporting Organizations

• American Association of University Women (AAUW)
• American Federation of Teachers
• American Civil Liberties Union
• American Counseling Association
• American Psychological Association
• American School Counselor Association
• Bazelon Center for Mental Health
• Law Family Equality Council
• Friends Committee on National Legislation
• Gay-Straight Alliance Network
• GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders)
• GLSEN
• Human Rights Campaign
• Interfaith Alliance
• Lambda Legal
• Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
• NAACP
• National Association of School Psychologists
• National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officials
• National Association of Secondary School Principals
• National Center for Lesbian Rights
• National Center for Transgender Equality
• National Council of Jewish Women
• National Council of La Raza
• National Education Association
• National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund
• National Women's Law Center
• PFLAG
• People for the American Way
• SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education)
• School Social Work Association of America
• Transgender Law Center
• The Trevor Project
• Unitarian Universalist Association
• United Methodist Church
• General Board of Church and Society