The recent surge in teen suicides linked to anti-gay harassment, including that of an 18-year-old student from Rutgers University, is prompting much discussion, particularly around the issue of preventing bullying before it starts. The major and perhaps most public conflict among those in the debate is an ideological one: while Gay-rights supporters “insist that any effective anti-bullying program must include specific components addressing harassment of gay youth,” religious conservatives see this approach as a tactic used to sway teen’s views of homosexuality.
While some believe that bullying policy “should put emphasis on the wrong actions of the bullies and not on the characteristics of the victims” others see this approach as being dangerous. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, for example, holds strongly to the belief that policies “have to name the problem in order to have an impact.”
Yet while the debate rolls on regarding what effective anti-bullying programs look like, what is absolutely clear is that something needs to be done. In 2009 a survey conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) found that only 18 percent of the 7,261 students surveyed attended schools which had a comprehensive anti-gay-bullying program.
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