Richard Maize: Schools Shouldn't Discriminate Against Kids

Justin Aaberg was a high school student living in Anoka, Minnesota. He played the cello, and his mom says he always had a smile on his face. Justin was also gay. And because of that, kids bullied him at school. This summer, he hanged himself.

This kind of tragedy has taken place too many times across the country--in Massachusetts, where Carl Walker Hoover, an 11-year-old who was tormented at school for "acting gay," committed suicide this April; and in Texas, where straight-A eighth-grader Asher Brown, bullied for years, took his own life last month.

A report by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) found that nearly 9 in 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students had experienced harassment at school in the past year and nearly two-thirds felt unsafe because of their sexual orientation. LGBT students are consistently more likely than their heterosexual peers to face violence at school and attempt suicide.

So what can we do to reverse this awful tide? As parents, we need to teach our kids to respect differences at an early age. School staff personnel need to know how to respond to bullying and create an environment that welcomes a diverse student population. But we also need strong laws to stop the harassment that destroys so many young lives.

Schools shouldn't discriminate against kids based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity--but they also shouldn't be allowed to ignore the kind of harassment that led Justin, Carl, Asher, and too many other young men and women to take their own lives.

These tragedies hit home on a personal level, ripping holes in families and communities. But they also require that we ask ourselves what kind of country we want to be, and what kind of environment we want to raise our kids in. 

I firmly believe that the values of respect and compassion that I learned growing up in Minnesota are still part of the fabric of America. Now, in the wake of so much grief, we have a chance to prove it.

I always keep in mind that it's your support that allows me to take on these fights. And I can't thank you enough for standing with me.