CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – Some 80,000 petitions have been delivered to the Union-Scioto School District calling for a change in bullying policy after last month’s brutal beating of a teen.
The 15-year-old teenager was severely beaten in his high school class room for being gay. The attack occurred at Union-Scioto High School in Chillicothe, Ohio, and was caught on camera as fellow class members watched one teen wait for the victim to enter the room, push him to the ground and continually punch him in the face. Two days prior to the attack, the perpetrator harassed the victim via Facebook regarding his sexual orientation. The victim has suffered a possible concussion and dental damage. The attacker was suspended from school for just three days.
Brett Thompson, along with representatives from statewide LGBT advocacy group Equality Ohio, presented the Union-Scioto School District with the results of an online petition that reached as far as Iceland.
The petition, posted at Change.org, is calling on the school district to make an addition to its current harassment policy to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
Thompson said, “I just thought to myself, ‘I cannot believe this is happening in 2011 in Ohio or anyplace.’”
Union-Scioto has no policy in place that specifically protects students from being bullied or attacked based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Union-Scioto School District does have a policy that prohibits harassment based on sex, race, color, national origin, religion, disability, among others, but it does not specifically protect against harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Equality Ohio executive director, Ed Mullen, explains that the incident serves as a reminder that Ohio’s anti-bullying law must be strengthened and specific protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth be included. Mullen said, “All students, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, have the right to a safe school and education. Students should not fear verbal harassment, cyber-bullying, or physical assault in our public schools.”
