Los Angeles Unified School District Educational Equity Compliance Office

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Los Angeles Unified School DistrictEducational
Equity Compliance Office

• LGBT Training
• Legal Compliance
• Stephen Jimenez, Project 10 Specialist

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Law PolicyProtected Classes

• Sex
• Color
• Race
• Ethnicity
• National Origin
• Mental/Physical Disability
• Religion
• Actual or Perceived Sexual Orientation
• Actual or Perceived Gender Identity/Expression

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Law PolicyCalifornia Student Safety and
Violence Prevention Act of 2000AB 537

• This law makes it illegal for public schools to
• Discriminate against students and employees on
  the basis of real or perceived sexual orientation
  or gender identity.
• Allow the school environment to become so hostile
  for students who are, or perceived to be,
  lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), where
  they are in effect denied equal access to an
  education.
• Ed Code 200 State Policy Purpose equal
  rights and opportunities based on protected
  class status which includes gender and sexual
  orientation.
• Ed Code 201 Legislative Declarations equal
  rights for educational participation,
  affirmative obligation to sexism and other bias,
  hostile free learning environment,
  prevention and intervention, and teaching and
  promoting tolerance and
  sensitivity.

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Law PolicyPreventive Strategies to Respond to
Anti-LGBT Harassment

• Discussions on respect for all students include
  all protected classes
• District Position on LGBT Acceptance. Sexual
  orientation is not a issue.
• Educating students on sexual orientation i.e.
  gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual
• School employees demonstrating their comfort to
  discuss LGBT themes.
• Integrating LGBT themes in the curriculum.
• School employees making affirming comments about
  people who are LGBT.
• Teachable moment when students use gay slurs.
• Not tolerating gay slurs.
• Guest speakers on LGBT bullying and harassment.
• Discussions on news worth items regarding LGBT

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Law PolicyImplications of AB 537

• Students
• Rights to express sexual orientation and gender
  identity
• Rights to discuss LGBT issues in or outside the
  classroom
• Rights to attend a hostile free school
  environment
• Educators
• Rights to express sexual orientation and gender
  identity
• Rights to discuss LGBT issues in or outside the
  classroom
• Rights to work in a hostile free environment
• Rights to teach LGBT supplemental curriculum
  (K-12)
• Rights to advocate on behalf of students who are
  bullied, harassed or discriminated against.

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Comments, Questions Answers

• We dont need Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs
  gay people are accepted.
• LGBT youth, actual or perceived, are targeted
  far more than other protected classes.
  Participation in a GSA potentially targets
  students.
• Dont lump gay people in with other civil rights
  movements its a lifestyle.
• The state of California has defined sexual
  orientation as a protected class therefore it
  is a civil rights issue.
• Gay is a choice.
• The courts in California have defined sexual
  orientation as an immutable characteristic
  meaning that it doesnt change.
• Cant we just put them somewhere else?
• Segregating students by protected class is
  discrimination.
• Can non-gay students tease each other about being
  gay?
• No. It is a violation of state law and district
  policy.
• Can I affirm gay people?
• Absolutely, and its encouraged that we affirm
  ALL protected classes.
• As a district employee, its my 1st Amendment
  right to say anything negative about gay people.
• False. As district employees, we protect all
  students.
• When students say, Thats so gay, they arent
  targeting gay people. Gay to young people means
  something lame or stupid.
• Gay is defined as ones sexual orientation. Gay
  also refers to people and a community. Gay can
  also be defined as culture. It is never defined
  as lame or stupid and students are violating
  the rights of others by using gay as demeaning or
  something negative.

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Gay 101 Definition of Terms

• Closeted concealing ones sexual orientation.
• Down Low a term that primarily describes men
  who self-label as heterosexual yet have same
  sex relationships.
• Gay used generically to refer to men and women
  who are attracted to persons of the same sex.
  Homosexual is ones sexual orientation and is
  considered a clinical term not the appropriate
  label to use with gay persons.
• Homophobia a bias against anything or anyone
  who falls outside the heterosexual paradigm. As
  with any other prejudice, homophobia exists on a
  continuum.
• Internalized Homophobia self-loathing or the
  acceptance of anti-gay sentiments by a gay person
  about him/herself.
• Intersex a person who is born with partial sex
  organs, and many of the secondary sex
  characteristics of both male and female.
  Hermaphrodite is the term no longer used and
  considered offensive.
• Pink Triangle the symbol the Nazis used to
  identify gay men for horrific treatment. The pink
  triangle has been claimed by the LGBT community
  as a symbol of pride.
• Queer a generic term, commonly used by LGBT
  youth, to mean not straight.
• Rainbow Flag designed in 1978 as a symbol of
  LGBT pride. Each color represents a concept.
• Sexual Orientation describes the dimensions of
  ones sexual attractions which includes
  homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual. Terms no
  longer used sexual preference, gay lifestyle
• Transgender an umbrella term used to describe
  a person whose physical appearance and gender
  expression as gender non-conforming regarding
  their biological sex. Transsexual is the
  description used within the Transgender community
  to describe someone who has undergone sexual
  re-assignment surgery.
• Cross Dresser a person, usually a heterosexual
  man, who dresses in womens attire for relaxation
  or entertainment. Transvestite is the term no
  longer used and is considered offensive.

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Law PolicyGender Identity/Expression

• Gender Expression How one expresses masculine or
  feminine behavior through gestures, movement, and
  attire.
• Gender Identity Ones understanding or feeling
  of being male or female regardless of ones
  biological sex.
• Ed Code 210.7 Gender means sex, and includes
  a persons gender identity and gender
  related appearance and behavior whether or not
  stereotypically associated with the
  persons assigned sex at birth.

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Law PolicyTransgender Accommodations

• Names and Pronouns Students have the right to
  be addressed by the pronoun and name of their
  choice. A students legal name cannot be changed
  on official documents and on the schools
  computer system without a court order.
• Attire Students are allowed to choose the
  masculine or feminine attire that corresponds
  with their gender identity.
• Expression Students are allowed to express
  their gender (masculine or feminine) as they
  choose or that which corresponds with their
  identity.
• Restrooms Generally, restrooms are not based
  on a students gender identity and are separated
  by sex.
• Locker Rooms Generally, locker rooms are not
  based on a students gender identity and are
  separated by sex.
• Ed Code 231 Nothing herein shall be construed
  to prohibit any educational institution from
  maintaining separate toilet facilities, locker
  rooms, or living facilities for the
  different sexes, so long as comparable facilities
  are provided.

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Law PolicyCalifornia Constitution

• Privacy Rights for Students
• District personnel do not have the right to
  disclose a students sexual orientation to
  others, including parents.
• District personnel do not have the right to
  engage others and parents in a discussion abut a
  students gender identity and expression or make
  attempts to change it.
• A students sexual orientation, gender identity
  and expression may be disclosed to employees with
  a need to know (principal, primary teacher (s),
  nurse, psychologist.

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Law Policy Federal Law Title IX

• Anti-Sex Discrimination Law (1972)
• Equal treatment based on sex
• Co-Ed and integrated classrooms and activities
• All academic courses, electives, activities and
  clubs are open to both sexes
• P.E. Classes integrated instruction
• Sports equal opportunity to participate for
  both sexes equal and comparable facilities and
  funding
• Best Practices gender neutral language
  encouraging young women to participate in
  extra- curricular activities, sports and
  promoting higher learning in male
  dominated fields.

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Law PolicyFederal Law - Equal Access Act (1984)

• All groups and or clubs have equal access to
  meeting spaces, PA system, school periodicals,
  bulletin board space etc.
• Students have the right to form Gay Straight
  Alliance clubs
• Groups and clubs are student initiated
• Attendance is voluntary
• Persons of the community that are not students
  may not direct, conduct, control, or regularly
  attend meetings.

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Law PolicyFreedom of Speech and Expression
Students Rights

• Ed Code 48907 (Publications, Essays)
• Obscene, libelous or slanderous expression,
  distribution or postings.
• Incite students to create unlawful acts on school
  premises or the violation of school rules.
• Substantial disruption of the orderly operation
  of the school.

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Law PolicyFreedom of Speech and Expression
Students Rights

• Federal Law Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
• Substantial disruption to the orderly conduct of
  the school.
• Harmful speech that violates the rights of
  others the use of fighting words and epithets.
  
• T-shirts
• Buttons
• Political Speech
• Religious Speech
• Protected Classes
• Limited Open Forums

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Law Policy1st Amendment and Religion

• Congress shall make no law respecting an
  establishment of religion, or
  prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
• The Establishment Clause
• The Establishment Clause prohibits the
  government from passing legislation to establish
  an official religion or preferring one religion
  over another.
• Quoting Thomas Jefferson, the U.S. Supreme
  Court has stated that the Establishment Clause
  was intended to accomplish this end by erecting a
  wall of separation between church and state.

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Law PolicyReligion and the Law

• The Umbrella of Religion
• Judaism
• Christianity
• Mohammedanism
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Agnosticism
• Paganism
• Atheism
• Satanism
• All other forms of spirituality

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Law PolicyComplaint Officers

• Title IX Complaint Officer assistant principal,
  counselor or dean
• Principal
• Director
• LAUSD Central Office Educational Equity
  Compliance Office
• School Board
• Formal Complaints
• Uniform Complaint Procedures