Bullying/Hate Crimes do not make the State of the State
|
|
Comments |
Mail to a Friend
Tags: anti-bullying, bully, bullying, gay, Granholm, hate crime, Matt's law, state of the state
Tags: anti-bullying, bully, bullying, gay, Granholm, hate crime, Matt's law, state of the state
Michigan is facing some pretty serious challenges and today's State of the State address was clearly designed to talk about the future of our economy, education and access to health care. We were very impressed with the bi-partisan tone and the commitment to diversifying the economy of our great state, but issues of interest to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community were noticeably absent.
Governor Granholm has been a visible and strong supporter of anti-bullying legislation (Matt's Safe Schools Law-HB 4162) which passed the Michigan House last year. However, that bill is now languising in the Senate Education Committee even though it has more co-sponsors than votes needed to pass the bill. We were hoping Governor Granholm would use the State of the State address to urge Senator leaders to give this bill a hearing, but there was none of that tonight.
Currently there is no state law requiring that school districts have a policy to curb bullying. Matt's law would establish a consistent definition of bullying across Michigan that still respects local control, while beginning the process of addressing a major obstacle to a safe education in Michigan. We believe the main reason this bill has not become law yet, is becuase it protects GLBT youth equally with all other youth.
Also, there was no mention of hate crime legislation. For ten years now, legislation has existed to strengthen Michigan's Ethnic Intimidation Act by giving prosecutors more tools and broadening the law to include anti-GLBT hate violence. Given the rash of noose incidents in Michigan and around the country and the outrage by the Legislative Black Caucus, we are disappointed that this legislation wasn't mentioned at all.
Many important issues were not mentioned and it is not the goal of the State of the State to appease every constituency in our state, but social issues are just as important as economic issues to the lives of people suffering in our state. Triangle Foundation will continue to work to advance these issues in the state legislature until they pass.
Governor Granholm has been a visible and strong supporter of anti-bullying legislation (Matt's Safe Schools Law-HB 4162) which passed the Michigan House last year. However, that bill is now languising in the Senate Education Committee even though it has more co-sponsors than votes needed to pass the bill. We were hoping Governor Granholm would use the State of the State address to urge Senator leaders to give this bill a hearing, but there was none of that tonight.
Currently there is no state law requiring that school districts have a policy to curb bullying. Matt's law would establish a consistent definition of bullying across Michigan that still respects local control, while beginning the process of addressing a major obstacle to a safe education in Michigan. We believe the main reason this bill has not become law yet, is becuase it protects GLBT youth equally with all other youth.
Also, there was no mention of hate crime legislation. For ten years now, legislation has existed to strengthen Michigan's Ethnic Intimidation Act by giving prosecutors more tools and broadening the law to include anti-GLBT hate violence. Given the rash of noose incidents in Michigan and around the country and the outrage by the Legislative Black Caucus, we are disappointed that this legislation wasn't mentioned at all.
Many important issues were not mentioned and it is not the goal of the State of the State to appease every constituency in our state, but social issues are just as important as economic issues to the lives of people suffering in our state. Triangle Foundation will continue to work to advance these issues in the state legislature until they pass.