Carlos Vasquez
The Fort Worth school board passed a new student conduct policy Tuesday that includes gender identity/expression in anti-retaliation, nondiscrimination and anti-harassment language. Sexual orientation was already protected.
Gender identity/expression had previously been included in FWISD policies for faculty and staff. Tuesday’s change makes Fort Worth the first district in Texas to protect students, staff and faculty based on both sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in conduct policy handbooks. Some districts, including Dallas, have added both sexual orientation and gender identity/expression to their anti-bullying policies.
The new FWISD policy was on the consent agenda, which means it passed without discussion along with other non-controversial changes.
Openly gay FWISD board member Carlos Vasquez said he was delighted the new policy passed on June 28, the second anniversary of the Rainbow Lounge Raid and the 42nd anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion.
He said the policy passed without public discussion but with some private discussions among board members.
“One didn’t know the terminology,” he said.
Vasquez said that before the policy passed for faculty and staff earlier this year, “We didn’t have a gay and lesbian teachers organization. Now we do.” While the policy doesn’t address bullying, he said it would affect bullying policy.
“If they violate the policy, they can be sanctioned and placed in an alternative school,” Vasquez said.
He said the district has a number of gay and lesbian principals and administrators. The only teacher he knew that would be covered by the new policy was a substitute who had some problems at one school where she worked.
“This settles that as far as policy is concerned,” he said. “This is a preventive policy to make sure people know we’re here to protect them.”
Fairness Fort Worth was instrumental in getting the policy passed, he said. He gave special credit to Tom Anable and David Mack Henderson for working with board members to get the policy passed.
Excellent news! Thank you, Ft. Worth ISD for taking the lead in this! Next step: TEA can still rescind a teacher’s credentials for being GLBT, so we’ll have to work on that, too.
How would the school know a kid is gay unless they dressed against school policy to begin with? So they would allow a kid that thinks their gay to be an exception but everyone else gets in trouble.That is Harvard thinking. Liberal illuminati crap. Kind of like one who cries on TV. They like that stuff.
Attention conservative Christians, take note; Omammy has just taken away your rights you are not a protected minority group, so you must just bend over and take it, No rights for whites, christian and normal heteros. Special rights for negros, illegals, sexual deviates, imoral, people with false or no religions. That’s todays America. We will not be sending our childen to Fort Worth schools.
Helen, Fort Worth schools thank you.
Tom, we’re talking about extending protection for transgender students here, not gay or lesbian kids.
Wow Helen. How old are you? I am white, a christian and normal… this is called progress, and long over due. We still have a long way to go, but these tired arguments made by some that are against equality across the board because you are white and christian and feel YOU are being discriminated against… are seriously flawed. What makes you think that because others want the same protections you have always had, that this effects YOUR rights? Others gaining protections does NOTHING to diminish your rights what-so-ever. it merely makes you EQUAL and ACCOUNTABLE. You have always had the right to marry your love, serve God your way and drink water from what ever fountain you like… don’t hate because others want those same basic opportunities… It is because of people that think as you do, the we NEED these policies in the first place.
Praise God for our school board recognizing the need for protecting all of our students. Bullying happens even to those poor kids that bullies assume to be gay and this protects those straight kids too. It puts out the word that no child or group of children deserve bullying. To people who claim to be Christian, yet act anything but ‘Christ-like” when it comes to their expressed hatred to those that are different than them, I encourage you to read the words of Christ about loving even your enemies. Would Jesus Discriminate? The people Jesus preached against the most were the religious zealots that used God’s word to oppress others, they were called Pharisees and Sadducees we can call them the religious right or conservative Christians of today. The people Jesus hung out with were those the religious right of his time called sinners, they were the outcasts that the religious folks bullied. Thank God, our students will be able to go to school without the fear of bullying. Pastor Curtis Smith. www.WhyWouldWe.org
While this is a great thing, most surrounding school districts don’t have these same protections. This includes many residents of the city of Fort Worth, who attend schools in other districts.
Attention readers, take note, online reader comments are typically fake. The person who wrote a comment typically is not the person they want you to think they are and typically does not live in the area they want you to think they live. They post a comment to make you or someone feel bad because that makes them feel better. That’s today’s America.
@ Hank. I’ve seen this many times, you are right.