Bullying Bill Passes House Committee

Special Report - May 28, 2009
The pro-homosexuality “Bullying Bill” passed the House Education committee today after one hour of discussion over two days. SB 526—School Violence Prevention Act coyly appears to be about preventing bullying and harassment in North Carolina’s public schools. In reality, the bill is a push by pro-homosexual activists to introduce special legal protections based on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” for the first time in North Carolina history.

In its definition of bullying, the bill includes a list of “actual or perceived differentiating characteristic[s] such as … gender identity … sexual orientation” that deserve special attention in the implementation of school bullying and harassment policies. Such a policy would virtually insure that young children would be taught about “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in our public schools at a very early age. Attempts to amend the bill or consider an alternative version without an enumerations list were not allowed by the chair of the committee.

SB 526 now goes to the House Judiciary I committee, where it will be discussed and vote on before it can come to the House floor for a vote. The bill has already passed the Senate.

“If this bill were really about bullying, it would have been passed last year instead of being sent to a committee to die by House bill sponsors, who refused to compromise on the clear pro-homosexual agenda to include these terms in state law for the first time in North Carolina history,” said Bill Brooks, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. “This bill as currently written will have negative consequences on children as well as other state policies. In the absence of a constitutional amendment to protect the definition of marriage, the recognition of ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ in state law is the first step to recognizing homosexuals as a protected class under state law. Legislators should not hijack the safety of children in schools to promote an agenda that a majority of North Carolinians oppose.”

Copyright © 2009. North Carolina Family Policy Council. All rights reserved.