State House Passes to Cut Down on Bullying and Harassment of Transgender Students

The state House gave its approval Tuesday to legislation to cut down on bullying and harassment endured by transgender students in public schools.

A recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics reports that more than four out of 10 transgender youth have attempted suicide. Those same kids point to bullying and harassment, particularly in school settings, as a major contributor. Washington lawmakers are close to finalizing a new law that would direct the Superintendent of Public Instruction, along with local school administrators, teachers, and staff to make schools safer for transgender and non-binary children. Lillian Ortiz-Self, a Democratic state representative from Mukilteo, is a school counselor when she’s not in Olympia and she talked about what she sees in the trenches.

“As a school counselor the kids are coming to me.  I see their lack of hope, the fear in their eyes, I see them talking about not wanting to ever return back, and how unsafe it is in our schools.  When we get to that point we know we are failing our children. We have to do something different, and we have a population of kids that, we’re losing them, and more importantly they’re losing hope.”

The bill, sponsored by Ortiz-Self’s seatmate, Senator Marko Liias, was amended before the House vote and is back in the Senate for a final OK before heading to the governor’s office to become law.

Press release provided by Washington State House Democratic Caucus.