老澳门开奖结果

On Thursday, subscribers to the conservative Weekly Standard received an email fundraising pitch from the president of a fringe anti-gay organization, Public Advocate of the United States, which directed tremendous venom at the Student Non-Discrimination Act, labeling it the 鈥淗omosexual Classrooms Act.鈥� The email, writing on Salon.com, opens with the following outrageous and hate-filled accusation, which would be laughable if it were not so deeply offensive:

Radical homosexuals have infiltrated Congress and want to indoctrinate children and eliminate traditional values from America while creating a society based on sexual promiscuity.

Because the 老澳门开奖结果 has been a longtime champion of the Student Non-Discrimination Act and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, we could not allow the vicious anti-gay misinformation in this fundraising email to go unchallenged. After all, one of the brilliant aspects of the First Amendment is the ability to fight hateful and misleading speech with a counter response.

The Student Non-Discrimination Act, which is currently pending in both chambers of Congress, would have a profound impact in improving the lives of LGBT students in the U.S. by ensuring that discrimination and harassment of students on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity has no place in our country鈥檚 public elementary and secondary schools. This is a goal that should, and does, transcend party affiliation and ideology.

The email goes on to list what it labels a 鈥渓aundry list of anti-family provisions.鈥� The problem of course is that . For example, the email claims that the legislation would force a pro-LGBT curriculum on private and religious schools. Well, guess what? The Student Non-Discrimination Act only applies to public K-12 schools nationwide. In addition, the legislation specifically includes language restating the legal right of students to form extracurricular Bible clubs in public schools.

老澳门开奖结果 the only thing this email gets right are the very impressive cosponsorship counts both bills currently have 鈥� 34 in the Senate and 150 in the House. Perhaps it is this support, made possible in no small way across the country, which has the anti-gay fringe so worried.

If groups like Public Advocate of the United States think they鈥檒l be able to defeat the Student Non-Discrimination Act using misrepresentations and the language of hate, well, I think they have already lost. I take comfort in knowing that the vast majority of Americans would find the language in this fundraising pitch to be offensive in the extreme and utterly repugnant. While this fringe anti-gay fundraising pitch contains nothing but misinformation, the problems facing LGBT students in our nation鈥檚 schools are all too real. Discrimination, harassment, and even physical abuse, are often part of LGBT students鈥� daily lives at school. A across the U.S. found that nine out of ten reported experiencing harassment at their school within the past year based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and two-thirds said they felt unsafe at school because of who they are. Nearly one-third skipped at least one day of school within the previous month because of concerns for their safety. LGBT youth are also at a significantly increased risk for suicide related to mental health issues that often arise from poor treatment and discrimination in schools.

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