On Tuesday, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bullying prevention bill by a vote of 110 to 1 after the sponsor affirmed that the bill requires schools to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.
The bill must now be approved in the Senate before it is signed into law by the Governor.
Click on the link to the right to view an exchange that represents perhaps the first time the words "sexual orientation and gender identity" have ever been uttered together in the House Chamber.
The absence of specific prohibitions in the bill made the statements from the House floor vital to ensure that the legislative intent of protecting LGBT students is clear.
This Bill is on Life Support and Needs Your Immediate Help!
The bill, called the Jeffery Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act, has passed two Senate Committees and Sen. Stephen Wise (R - Jacksonville), who chairs the final committee to hear the bill, is vowing to kill it by refusing to bring the bill up for a vote. This despite a previous commitment to hear the bill that Sen. Wise made to the six-year-old brother of Jeffery Johnston, a Lee County teenager who killed himself in the wake of relentless homophobic bullying. |
