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New York
Association for Gender Rights Advocacy NYAGRA letter to NYS Senate Majority
Leader Bruno New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy 24 W. 25th St., 9th floor New York, NY 10010 (212) 675-3288, ext. 266 <www.nyagra.tripod.com> Hon. Joseph L. Bruno Senate Majority Leader & President Pro Tem New York State Senate 909 Legislative Office Building Albany, NY 12247 13 June 2003 Dear Senator, I am writing to urge the New York State Senate in the final days of the 2003 session to meet with the New York State Assembly and reconcile the Senate Majority’s Schools as Safe Harbors Act (S.4023) with the Dignity for All Students Act (A.1118 / S.1925) so that every New York student can be protected from bias harassment and bullying in schools. The New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy is the first statewide transgender advocacy organization in New York, and we advocate on behalf of transgendered and gender-variant people throughout the state. NYAGRA is a member of the Dignity for All Students Coalition, a consortium of over 170 community groups statewide committed to ending bias-harassment and discrimination in the state’s public schools (K-12). The Schools as Safe Harbors Act passed the Senate earlier this week with only four dissenting votes. The Dignity for All Students Act passed the Assembly a few days earlier with only eight dissenting votes. While the Safe Harbors bill is a decent attempt at combating bias harassment in schools, it is lacking in comparison to the stronger provisions of the Dignity bill in a number of important respects, including: * the omission of any teacher training on how to prevent and respond to bias bullying; * no prohibition on harassment by school staff or anyone other than a student; * a very limited definition of verbal bullying; * barring a private cause of action as an enforcement mechanism with non-compliant school districts; * the absence of any protection from discrimination; and * no specific definition of gender to include gender identity and expression. Clearly there is a strong bipartisan sentiment that bias bullying is a problem in New York’s schools, and that a law should be passed to address it. It would be a tragedy if political differences were to condemn students to another year of harassment because the legislature could not agree on an approach to comprehensively protect students from this bias-based bullying. We urge the Senate to find common ground with the Assembly and pass a law THIS SESSION so that no child need to return to school this September under the threat of bias harassment. We urge you to work with your colleagues and legislative leaders to spur discussions immediately on a compromise measure to make every New York school a “hate-free zone.” Thank you. Sincerely, Pauline Park, co-chair |