A plan, cohesion needed to pass Matt's Safe Schools

Over the past few years, months and especially recent weeks of reporting on anti-bullying endeavors in the state of Michigan, one thing has become increasingly clear: This effort – from the lobbyists to the bills to where things are headed – is incredibly unclear.
Speak to anyone who is working on anti-bullying legislation or grassroots efforts and you may get a completely different story each time. Some unequivocally support enumeration, while others think it's better to just pass the bill without it and worry about specifics in individual school districts, or not at all. Some see our victory happening within the next year; others say it could take another legislative session – or more. Some think school officials who don't uphold the law should face criminal charges. Others think legal ramifications should stay out of the bill.
We have been beating readers over the head with quotes, facts, opinions and stories related to bullying for the past three weeks and it's time to take a stand.
We at Between The Lines believe that anti-bullying legislation can't wait any longer, but it is also no good if it doesn't include specific protections for LGBT youth. We believe that school officials should be held accountable for these regulations, but also that it is the job of statewide organizations and activists to make sure that schools understand who this protects, why and what they need to do. We certainly believe that the voices of youth are largely missing from this equation.
Overall, we believe that this effort has gone on far too long without reaching any conclusion, and without much agreement or collaborative work. Several factors are contributing to this lack of clarity and cohesion, and they must be addressed.
Though the bill has already introduced legislation with enumeration, there are talks of a Republican Senator introducing it again without enumeration. Then, while some members of LGBT political organizations are claiming that specific protections for LGBT youth are essential, others have willingly agreed to let it slide so long as the bill passes into law. Lastly, while youth are begging to be a part of this, adults are not doing enough to get them involved.
Which legislation are lobbyists supposed to support? Why are we compromising the safety of LGBT youth just so that we can say we got something done? Why aren't we listening to the LGBT teens telling us about being pelted with fruit or insulted in the hallways? Why are we pretending like legislation without enumeration is any sort of answer when we know that prejudice will find its way through unless we are very clear about who is protected?
And the most important question: How are we ever going to get this passed if we can't agree on what we're passing?
There are definitely lots of passionate people working for this cause – volunteers, political directors, lobbyists, educators and even youth. But until they are working together for the same goals, nothing will ever get done.
Youth – be they LGBT, disabled, black, white, male or female – cannot afford for us to squabble and go in different directions any longer. We can't let Matt's Safe Schools pass with loopholes for personal prejudices to slip through, and we can't win it with enumeration unless we are all on the same page, working for the same goals. We at Between The Lines are tired of trying to figure out where things are going and who supports what. We need one plan and we need it now.