Increased knowledge and communication could solve serious problems for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals who face discrimination and bullying in schools, Thomas Anable, president of gay rights organization Fairness Fort Worth, said.
On March 20, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and other officials spoke at the White House LGBT Conference on Safe Schools and Communities at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Anable, who helped draft the idea for the conference, invited Jamal King, the president of TCU’s Gay Straight Alliance, to attend the event because of his organization and leadership of a regional GSA conference at TCU earlier
this month.
The conference, which is part of a nationwide series of White House LGBT Conferences, gave Holder and Jarett a chance to present federal resources for creating LGBT-safe environments, Anable said.
King said he admired Holder’s intolerance of discrimination. Holder’s speech inspired King to lead the university’s GSA with a greater commitment to community involvement.
“Overall, I think the community has become more accepting,” King said. “But there is a lot more that can change.”
Holder said that in 2011 the Department of Justice made a record number of prosecutions under the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which responded to bias-motivated murders. Prior to its passage in October 2009, hate crimes excluded crimes committed on the basis of disability and sexuality.
But criminal prosecutions are only a part of the Department of Justice’s commitment to create healthy learning environments around the country, Holder said.
“We are working with schools and communities to address bigotry before it becomes fuel for violence,” Holder said.
Jarrett praised Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns for openly discussing, in a 2010 City Council meeting, the bullying and hardship he faced because his classmates perceived him to be gay.
The Obama administration hoped to end bullying by providing information for educators, students and community leaders, Jarrett said. A newly remodelled stopbullying.gov, a website that offers support for teachers, students and parents encountering discrimination, could be a powerful asset for those wishing to create safer learning environments, she said.
Burns said both keynote speeches emphasized the Obama administration’s commitment to tackling an issue that policymakers have neglected for a long time.
In June, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1942. Although the bill addressed bullying in general without any specific protections for LGBT students, it was a good first step, Burns said.
Many students often feel frustrated and disappointed that societal attitudes regarding the LGBT community have not changed rapidly enough, Burns said.
“But when you think about what’s occurred in the last year-and-a-half since I made my comments at a City Council meeting, a lot of good things have happened,” Burns said.
Hundreds in the audience clapped after Fort Worth Police Chief Jeffrey Halstead announced that more than 90 percent of the Fort Worth police had been trained to be more aware of the difficulties faced by the LGBT communities they serve.
TCU’s close relationship with the Fort Worth police ultimately would better prepare on-campus officers to detect and handle hate crimes, Halstead said. Policy, training and education could change the way people treat the LGBT community, he said.
King said one program alone could not create better environments for LGBT people.
“But if we start working with each other, between organizations and between groups, we can create change,” he said.
