Unfinished Lives

Minnesota School District Notorious for Bullying Under National Pressure to Change

Justin Aaberg, one of at least four bullycide victims in Anoka-Hennepin Schools

Anoka-Hennepin School District, Minnesota’s largest, was put on notice by national LGBTQ and civil rights advocacy groups that they would file a federal lawsuit to force “prompt and meaningful action to remedy the current hostile environment” to protect the constitutional rights of LGBTQ students.  The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) issued their demands to Superintendent Dennis L. Carlson in a letter dated June 6.

Further, the SPLC and the NCLR denounced the school district’s gag order against teachers, counselors, and students who would bring up the topic of LGBTQ rights or anti-gay bullying, and demanded it be lifted immediately.  Attorneys for both organizations wrote Superintendent Carlson: “The gag policy serves no legitimate education-related purpose. Rather, as made abundantly clear in the District’s own guidance about the policy, the gag policy singles out a vulnerable and disfavored minority – LGBT students – and prevents teachers and other district employees from supporting, or even protecting, those students within the classroom. The mandatory silence imposed by the policy leaves teachers without tools to handle LGBT bullying, and creates an atmosphere in which LGBT students are isolated and feel unprotected.”

Arguing that LGBTQ students are singled out by the gag order and denied their rights guaranteed under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the attorney-advocates continued, “The policy imposes a stigma on LGBT students as pariahs, not fit to be mentioned within the school community, a message that comes across loud and clear both to LGBT students and their peers, and which has grave repercussions for the psychological and emotional development of LGBT students.”

Highlighting the dangerous nature of the School Districts policies, SPLC attorney Samuel Wolfe pointed out, “The gag policy is anything but neutral. It is rooted in homophobia and sustains a hostile environment harmful to all students. The district must repeal this dangerous policy.”

According to the NCLR, “The letter was prompted after a number of present and past District students requested that SPLC and NCLR investigate the pervasive harassment they have experienced based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender expression at District schools. The ongoing investigation has found that the gag policy contributes significantly to the lack of safety of LGBT students and students perceived as LGBT within the District.”

Since 2009, at least four LGBTQ students in the Anoka-Hennepin School District have died by “bullycide” due to the severity of anti-gay bullying allowed and in some cases allegedly encouraged by school officials, teachers, and other personnel. Among these victims was Justin Aaberg, 15, whose mother Tammy has become an outspoken critic of the school system, and a tireless advocate for LGBTQ youth nationally.  Public relations officers for the district contacted the editors of Unfinished Lives Blog to complain about the language of the post linking school policy to anti-gay bullying, resulting in the suicide of Aaberg.  Standing by the post, Unfinished Lives refused to change its language or content. Now, with the legal efforts of the NCLR and the SPLC, actual change that saves lives may begin in Minnesota’s most populous school system.  It may be far too late for Justin Aaberg and the other victims of bullying in these middle and high schools, but it will prove life-saving for untold numbers of other LGBTQ students who seek an education in Minnesota public schools.

Change.org has issued a call to concerned citizens to sign a petition demanding the compliance of the Anoka-Hennepin School District with the conditions set forth in the SPLC and NCLR letter to Superintendent Carlson.  You may view the petition online and sign it here.

June 6, 2011 - Posted by unfinishedlives | Anglo Americans, Anoka-Hennepin School District, Anti-LGBT hate crime, Bullying in schools, gay teens, GLBTQ, Hanging, harassment, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBT teen suicide prevention, LGBTQ, LGBTQ suicide, Minnesota, Social Justice Advocacy, Southern Poverty Law Center | Anglo Americans, Anoka-Hennepin School District, Anti-LGBT hate crime, Bullying in schools, gay teens, GLBTQ, harassment, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, LGBTQ teen suicide, LGBTQ teen suicide prevention, Minnesota, Social Justice Advocacy