Some people just need more schoolin'

"School days, school days, good old Golden Rule days…"
Unless you're seen as too fat. Or too thin. Or you wear the wrong clothing or like the wrong musical artists or…
…unless you are, or are seen as, being gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgendered.
You don't have to be LGBT to have been bullied at some point during your school years, but it helps. That's why State Representative Glenn Anderson introduced Matt's Safe School Law; to make Michigan's schools a safe place for all children. The fat ones, the thin ones, the socially-less-than-adept ones – and, yes, the LGBT ones. Read about how you can be part of Safe School Lobby Day in this issue.
Protecting the public schools from any kind of bigotry is the focus of a national set of guidelines endorsed by both the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and a group of Christian educators. The guidelines, which place our common heritage as Americans bound by the First Amendment over our inborn sexual orientation or our choice of religion, may just be the beginning of a truce that will serve students and communities alike. Read about this First Amendment-Center dose of common sense on page 8.
Despite these notes of progress, though, bigotry against LGBT students and their young allies is still all too prevalent in the public schools. That's why GLSEN will sponsor the National Day of Silence on April 26, and why BTL will cover Day of Silence events in Michigan's schools. Because while right-wing, self-styled Christians have every right to believe and to say that our lives don't fit in with their understanding of their Bible, they don't have the right to frighten or bully LGBT students into silence in the secular arena of our public schools. GLSEN will hold, and BTL will cover, the National Day of Silence until the discrimination and bullying ends.
Meanwhile, our community continues to thrive with creativity and vibrancy and life, regardless of what the dogma of a few small-minded souls has to say about us. Second-parent adoption has won an important voice of support in the Michigan Women's Commission, taking Paul Condino's bill one step closer to becoming a law that will protect children by acknowledging their right to a legal relationship with both of the people who are raising them. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force held a successful Detroit-area fundraiser on March 17, Hotter Than July! is gearing up for another successful summer event, and a group of Detroit-area transgender activists have begun TransGender Detroit to provide local support to our local transgender residents.
Religious extremists have made a great deal of fuss over the so-called "homosexual agenda." Reading this week's issue of Between The Lines, one must concede that "the right" is right. We do have an agenda: Equal rights for all people. A country that is free from bias-instigated violence. Children being raised by, and sheltered by the protection of, two parents who can provide them with health insurance and survivor benefits and can make medical decisions for them in emergencies with no questions asked.
And safe schools. Don't forget safe schools – for every student that walks in their doors.
It's a shame this agenda is opposed by so many people who call themselves Christian.