The Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) Representative Jared Polis & Senator Al Franken

Background

 Every day, students who are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) are subjected to pervasive discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence, which is harmful to both students and our education system. Surveys indicate as many as eight in ten LGBT students have been bullied.  These hurtful actions deprive students of equal educational opportunities and contribute to high rates of absenteeism, dropout, adverse health consequences, and academic underachievement among LGBT youth. Left unchecked, discrimination can lead, and has led, to life-threatening violence and to suicide. And when school officials engage in discriminatory treatment, or are indifferent to harassing behavior, LGBT students’ constitutional rights are infringed.  While federal civil rights statutes expressly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin, they do not explicitly include sexual orientation or gender identity and, as a result, LGBT students and parents have often had limited legal recourse for this kind of discrimination.

What does the “Student Non-Discrimination Act” do?

 The “Student Non-Discrimination Act” (SNDA) would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition of discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.  SNDA would provide protections for LGBT students and ensure that all students have access to public education in a safe environment free from discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence.  SNDA would also provide meaningful and effective remedies (loss of federal funding and legal cause of action for victims) for discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, modeled after Title IX.

Supporting Organizations

 Advocates for Youth  The Episcopal Church  African American Ministers in Action  Family Equality Council  American Association of University  Friends Committee on National Women (AAUW) Legislation  American Federation of Teachers  Gay-Straight Alliance Network  American Civil Liberties Union  GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates &  American Counseling Association Defenders)  American Psychological Association  Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education  American School Counselor Network Association  Healthy Teen Network  Asian American Justice Center,  Human Rights Campaign member of the Asian American Center  Immigration Equality Action Fund for Advancing Justice  Interfaith Alliance  Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law  Lambda Legal  CenterLink: The Community of LGBT  Leadership Conference on Civil and Centers Human Rights  Disability Rights Education & Defense  League of United Latin American Fund Citizens  NAACP  PFLAG National  National Association of School  People For the American Way Psychologists  Point Foundation  National Association of School Safety  Sargent Shriver National Center on and Law Enforcement Officials Poverty Law  National Association of Secondary  SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of School Principals Education)  National Black Justice Coalition  School Social Work Association of  National Center for Lesbian Rights America  National Center for Transgender  Sexuality Information and Education Equality Council of the U.S. (SIECUS)  National Coalition for Women and Girls  Southern Poverty Law Center in Education  Transgender Law Center  National Council of Jewish Women  The Trevor Project  National Council of La Raza  Union for Reform Judaism  National Council of Women's  Unitarian Universalist Association Organizations  United Methodist Church, General  National Education Association Board of Church and Society  National Gay and Lesbian Task Force  Women's Law Project Action Fund  National Network for Youth  National Organization for Women  National Women's Law Center

Congressional Co-Sponsors 112th Congress

Senator Mark Begich Senator Frank Lautenberg Senator Michael Bennet Senator Patrick Leahy Senator Richard Blumenthal Senator Carl Levin Senator Barbara Boxer Senator Robert Menendez Senator Sherrod Brown Senator Jeff Merkley Senator Maria Cantwell Senator Barbara Mikulski Senator Benjamin Cardin Senator Patty Murray Senator Thomas Carper Senator Jack Reed Senator Robert Casey, Jr. Senator Bernard Sanders Senator Christopher Coons Senator Charles Schumer Senator Richard Durbin Senator Jeanne Shaheen Senator Dianne Feinstein Senator Debbie Stabenow Senator Kristen Gillibrand Senator Mark Udall Senator Kay Hagen Senator Tom Udall Senator Tom Harkin Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Senator Tim Johnson Senator Ron Wyden Senator Amy Klobuchar

Rep. Robert E. Andrews Rep. Robert Brady Rep. Karen Bass Rep. Bruce Braley Rep. Xavier Becerra Rep. Corrine Brown Rep. Timothy Bishop Rep. Louis Capps Rep. Earl Blumenauer Rep. Michael Capuano Rep. Suzanne Bonamici Rep. John Carney Rep. Madeleine Bordallo Rep. Andre Carson Rep. Kathy Castor Rep. Jim Langevin Rep. Donna Christensen Rep. Rick Larsen Rep. Judy Chu Rep. John Larson Rep. David Cicilline Rep. Barbara Lee Rep. Yvette Clarke Rep. Sander Levin Rep. Lacy Clay Rep. John Lewis Rep. Emanuel Cleaver Rep. David Loebsack Rep. James Clyburn Rep. Zoe Lofgren Rep. Steve Cohen Rep. Nita Lowey Rep. Gerald E. Connolly Rep. Ben Ray Lujan Rep. John Conyers Rep. Stephen Lynch Rep. Jim Costa Rep. Carolyn Maloney Rep. Joe Courtney Rep. Ed Markey Rep. Joseph Crowley Rep. Doris Matsui Rep. Elijah Cummings Rep. Carolyn McCarthy Rep. Danny Davis Rep. Betty McCollum Rep. Susan Davis Rep. Jim McDermott Rep. Peter DeFazio Rep. James McGovern Rep. Diana DeGette Rep. Jerry McNerney Rep. Rosa DeLauro Rep. Gregory W. Meeks Rep. Ted Deutch Rep. Mike Michaud Rep. John Dingell Rep. George Miller Rep. Lloyd Doggett Rep. Gwen Moore Rep. Mike Doyle Rep. James Moran Rep. Donna Edwards Rep. Keith Ellison Rep. Eliot Engel Rep. Jerrold Nadler Rep. Anna Eshoo Rep. Grace Napolitano Rep. Sam Farr Rep. Richard Neal Rep. Chaka Fattah Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton Rep. Marcia Fudge Rep. Frank Pallone Rep. John Garamendi Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. Rep. Al Green Rep. Ed Pastor Rep. Raul Grijalva Rep. Donald Payne Rep. Luis Gutierrez Rep. Nancy Pelosi Rep. Janice Hahn Rep. Ed Perlmutter Rep. Colleen Hanabusa Rep. Gary Peters Rep. Alcee Hastings Rep. Chellie Pingree Rep. Brian Higgins Rep. David Price Rep. Jim Himes Rep. Mike Quigley Rep. Ruben Hinojosa Rep. Charles Rangel Rep. Rush Holt Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Rep. Michael Honda Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard Rep. Steny Hoyer Rep. Bobby Rush Rep. Steve Israel Rep. Tim Ryan Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Rep. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson Rep. Linda Sanchez Rep. Hank Johnson Rep. Loretta Sanchez Rep. Marcy Kaptur Rep. John Sarbanes Rep. William Keating Rep. Jan Schakowsky Rep. Dale Kildee Rep. Adam Schiff Rep. Ron Kind Rep. Kurt Schrader Rep. Allyson Schwartz Rep. Chris Van Hollen Rep. Bobby Scott Rep. Nydia Velazques Rep. Jose Serrano Rep. Timothy Walz Rep. Brad Sherman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz Rep. Albio Sires Rep. Maxine Waters Rep. Louise Slaughter Rep. Melvin Watt Rep. Adam Smith Rep. Henry Waxman Rep. Jackie Speier Rep. Peter Welch Rep. Mike Thompson Rep. Frederica Wilson Rep. John Tierney Rep. John Yarmuth Rep. Paul Tonko Rep. Niki Tsongas