Anti-Gay Bullying Alive and Well in NY

Via Big Gay News:

The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Mohawk Central School District for failing to protect a gay student from two years worth of harassment, abuse, and bullying. The 14-year-old boy, Jacob had to leave school two weeks early last school year because of escalating verbal and physical attacks by his peers and educators.

According to an article from the Evening Telegram (Herkimer, NY), the lawsuit is trying to change school policies and the way they are practiced and is also seeking compensation and punitive damages for the harassment Jacob suffered. The lawsuit also names several individuals including the the district superintendent, the school principal and an equal opportunity compliance officer for the district.

The superintendent released a statement saying, "Our district has not and will not knowingly tolerate discrimination or harassment of its students by anyone."

The article went on:

But the lawsuit is claiming abuse continued long after the administration became aware of the situation.
The parents contacted the NYCLU, an affiliate of American Civil Liberties Union, in June because the abuse had gotten progressively worse despite repeated complaints to school officials, Stoughton said.
It mostly began with verbal harassment in seventh grade at Gregory B. Jarvis Junior/Senior High School and “in eighth grade is when it turned violent,” [NYCLU attorney Corey] Stoughton added.

This escalation was a result of administrators not formally recording and investigating incidents, which is required by policy, as well as failing to discipline students responsible for abuse, Stoughton said.
There were several measures taken by the district to address the situation, though, according to affidavits.
A “safe room” was set up for the student to use if he felt threatened and he was allowed to bring a cell phone to school to call home.

The student’s affidavit, however, states he was kept from utilizing the measures on several occasions.
Stoughton said other students interviewed witnessed many of the instances of abuse. Some abuse, including one incident of comments made by a teacher, only involved the victim’s accusations, she added.
The NYCLU had been in contact with district officials over the summer, but Stoughton said “half measures” proposed for keeping the student safe weren’t sufficient to address the situation.
Attorneys with the NYCLU will be filing a motion within a short time, she said, and a jury trial is being requested.

Details of Jacob's accusations can be seen in his (NSFW because of language) affidavit, which was published on the NYCLU's Web site. It includes events such as:

In November 2008 a kid who picks on me all the time came up to me in the lunch room

and said "I'm glad your dad has cancer, I hope he dies soon, he's probably a faggot too so

why don't you go suck him off." There were lunch room monitors who were there but no

one said anything to the kid. I was really upset and shoved him. He shoved me back and

I hit him. I know I shouldn't have but I was so angry that he said he was glad my dad is

dying. Even though my dad told the principal what the kid had said to start it all, I got a

one day in-school suspension and I don't think the other kid did. We both got two weeks

of detention where they made us eat lunch together in a room alone and told us we had to

talk to each other. For the two weeks the other student just kept insulting me and saying

the same anti-gay things he always says. It was awful having to sit with him at lunch all

those days, it felt like an extra punishment on top of the suspension and detention.

and

Around December 2008 I was walking to class and as I passed my science teacher, Mr.:

Hartmann's, room Mr. Hartmann called me over and said "Come here, I need to talk to

you about something serious." He said I should be ashamed of myself for being gay and

also said "you should hate yourself every day unless you change."

and

On June 5, 2009 one of the students who is always bothering me leaned over to me in

Spanish class, took a pocket knife out under the desk, and told me he was going to stab

my "faggot ass" and hang me up on the flagpole. I was so scared I left class and ran

home where I told my dad what happened. I told my friend about it on my way out of

school and I think she told the principal. My dad went to the school to talk to someone

about it. No one ever interviewed me about what happened or asked me if anyone else

saw the knife.

Granted these are just Jacob's statements, and school officials haven't had a chance to respond to them yet. But these are just 3 of 41 points he talks about in the affidavit. Even if Jacob were (and I'm not saying he is) exaggerating or even lying about some of what happened to him, school officials should have stepped in long ago. Unfortunately Jacob's story is fairly common in schools in the US. How can LGBT students be expected to learn in an environment where they fear for their safety? How can they succeed when they suffer constant harassment? Jacob is lucky in some ways because he has supportive parents who are at least trying to stop the bullying. What happens to those who don't have that support?