The Massachusetts Senate on Thursday passed S.B. 2313, An Act Relative to School Bullying, which brings much-needed attention to the crisis of bullying and harassment in commonwealth schools. However, the bill falls short as it fails to enumerate the classes of persons who have historically and disproportionately been the subjects of bullying and harassment. Research shows that students at schools with an enumerated anti-bullying policy reported harassment at a significantly reduced rate.

“This policy leaves behind Massachusetts’ most at-risk youth,” said Stanley Griffith, board president of Greater Boston PFLAG, and Danielle Murray, co-chair of GLSEN Massachusetts, in a joint statement. “It is critical to specifically name the problem in this kind of legislation—girls would not have sports and our schools would not be integrated if policymakers had not specifically addressed these inequities by enumerating categories like sex and race in our laws.”

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These findings prompted Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and his staff to draft an ordinance prohibiting housing and employment discrimination based on sexual preference or gender identity. Becker said that there is a need since neither federal nor state law designates gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people as a protected class.

More at: PFLAG!