NC State Board of Education Fails GLBT Young People!
The North Carolina State Board of Education ignored the recommendations of trained professional counselors and social workers and removed language from their revisions to the professional standards that would have ensured these professionals had an understanding of diversity, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
By removing all of the protected classes, the board failed to ensure that counselors understand how key forms of diversity and discrimination impacts students' ability to learn.
The NC Family Policy Council, a radical right wing group that supports abstinence-only sex education, wrote the school board in September asking them to remove the language, saying that discussion of sexual orientation would encourage tolerance of “unwanted behavior.”
Sadly, the Board heeded their request and voted down the inclusive language 4-7. Hats off to John Tate, Edgar Murphy, Wayne McDevitt and Melissa Bartlett for supporting the inclusive policy!
By failing to ensure that school counselors and social workers are trained to understand lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, the State Board of Education has put the lives and heath of NC public school students at risk.
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