Senate Passes "Bullying Bill"

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Senate Passes "Bullying Bill"

Special Report - May 7, 2009
The North Carolina Senate gave final approval Wednesday afternoon to a bill that would grant special legal protections based on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” for the first time in North Carolina history. SB 526—School Violence Prevention Act, passed by a vote of 26–22 after no senators stood to debate the bill during Wednesday’s third reading.

The bill, which purports to be about bullying, includes a list of enumerated characteristics of students that deserve special attention by teachers and school administrators. Last session, bill sponsors in the House refused to consider a Senate version of the bill that removed all enumerations and sought to protect all students from any bullying for any reason, revealing the true intent of the bill to be normalization of “alternative” sexual behaviors. Now that the Senate has passed the bill, SB 526 will go to the House for consideration.

"The fight on this bill has been over the inclusion of the terms 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' in the bill," said Bill Brooks, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. "These terms are not defined in the bill or anywhere else in state law. Their inclusion in the law is a stamp of approval by the state to behaviors that are still illegal in North Carolina and opens wide the door to discuss these issues with schoolchildren." Brooks went on to explain that in states that have included these terms in their law have seen their state courts use the move toward recognition of 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' to legalize 'same-sex marriage.'"