Bill Text: CA ACR44 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Concurrent Resolution 44 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: National Day of Silence: discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8)

Status: (Passed) 2013-05-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 33, Statutes of 2013. [ACR44 Detail]

Download: California-2013-ACR44-Chaptered.html

BILL NUMBER: ACR 44	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  33
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  MAY 9, 2013
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  MAY 6, 2013
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 18, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ammiano
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Atkins, Eggman, Gordon, and John A.
P�rez)
   (Coauthors: Senators Galgiani, Lara, and Leno)

                        APRIL 4, 2013

   Relative to National Day of Silence.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 44, Ammiano. National Day of Silence: discrimination against
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.
   This measure would declare support for the goals and ideals of the
National Day of Silence and would encourage school districts in the
state to enforce laws and policies that prohibit name calling,
bullying, harassment, and discrimination against all students,
teachers, and other school staff regardless of their sexual
orientation and gender identity or expression.



   WHEREAS, The National Day of Silence is a day in which students
take a vow of silence to bring attention to the antilesbian, antigay,
antibisexual, and antitransgender name calling, bullying, and
harassment faced by individuals in schools; and
   WHEREAS, The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
designates the third Friday of every April as the National Day of
Silence; and
   WHEREAS, Hundreds of thousands of students at more than 8,000
schools have participated in the National Day of Silence in past
years; and
   WHEREAS, The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network's 2011
National School Climate Survey illustrates the pervasive harassment
and victimization faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
students by documenting their experiences within the preceding
academic year; and
   WHEREAS, Nearly 82 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender students reported being verbally harassed by their peers
at school because of their sexual orientation, and more than 60
percent because of their gender expression; and
   WHEREAS, More than 38 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender students reported being physically harassed by their
peers at school because of their sexual orientation, and over 27
percent because of their gender expression; and
   WHEREAS, Over 18 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender students reported being physically assaulted by their
peers at school because of their sexual orientation, and more than 12
percent because of their gender expression; and
   WHEREAS, More than 60 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender students reported that they felt unsafe in school, and
nearly 30 percent reported missing at least one entire schoolday in
the preceding month because of safety concerns; and
   WHEREAS, Transgender students were more likely than all other
students to report feeling unsafe at school because of their gender
expression; and
   WHEREAS, According to the National Transgender Discrimination
Survey, those who expressed a transgender identity or gender
nonconformity while in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive,
reported alarming rates of harassment, physical assault, and sexual
violence so severe that almost 15 percent of those surveyed had to
leave school; and
   WHEREAS, Student academic performance is affected such that
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students who experienced high
levels of verbal harassment because of their sexual orientation or
gender expression report a grade point average nearly a one-half
grade lower than those of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
students who experienced low levels of harassment; and
   WHEREAS, The presence of supportive staff contributed to a range
of positive indicators including fewer reports of missing school,
fewer reports of feeling unsafe, greater academic achievement, higher
educational aspirations, and a greater sense of school belonging;
and
   WHEREAS, In the State of California, we have adopted laws and
policies that prohibit name calling, bullying, harassment, and
discrimination against students on the basis of their sexual
orientation and gender identity or expression; and
   WHEREAS, Every child should be guaranteed an education free from
name calling, bullying, harassment, and discrimination regardless of
his or her sexual orientation and gender identity or expression; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California
supports the goals and ideals of the National Day of Silence and
encourages school districts in the State of California to enforce
laws and policies that prohibit name calling, bullying, harassment,
and discrimination against all students, teachers, and other school
staff regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity or
expression, so that California's schools are institutions where all
individuals are able to focus on learning; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.