Elikzabeth Williams, a 16-yr-old from Merced High School, was among the 500 queer youth that demonstrated at the state capitol this week.

California students, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender will be safer and better protected from harassment and bullying at school under a new bill that reinforces school compliance with existing anti-bias laws. The Safe Place to Learn Act (AB 394), authored by Assemblymember Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys and co-sponsored by Equality California (EQCA) and Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE), clarifies the minimum steps school districts must take to meet California’s safe school standards. LGBT youth in California continue to face harassment at school despite state laws that went into effect more than seven years ago protecting students from bias based on their gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, nationality, religion or disability.

“We want to ensure that students in California’s publicly-funded schools are protected from harassment and violence,” said EQCA Executive Director Geoff Kors. “This legislation clearly outlines the steps the state will take to verify that every school district is helping make each student feel safe and secure.”

AB 394 guides school districts in adopting and publicizing anti-harassment policies and complaint procedures, updating publications on school safety and discrimination, keeping records of complaints and how they were resolved, and providing training for teachers on how to maintain a safe learning environment for all students. The measure also requires the Department of Education to regularly monitor school compliance with student safety laws.

Nearly eight percent of California students report being harassed because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, according to the “2004 Safe Place to Learn” report issued by the California Safe Schools Coalition and the 4-H Center for Youth Development at UC-Davis. In addition, more than 91 percent of all youth report hearing students make negative comments based on sexual orientation.

“Thousands of youth silently suffer as they are bullied, ridiculed, and betrayed at school - a place where every student should feel respected and protected,” said Assemblymember Levine. “We will only continue to fail the youth of California if we do not provide students with a safe place to learn.”

The Safe Place to Learn Act reinforces the California Student Safety and Violence Act of 2000, AB 537 (Kuehl), which banned discrimination in schools. The measure is similar to AB 606 (Levine), passed by the Legislature last year.

In reaction to this piece of legislation, protestors and counter protestors faced one another head on at the state Capitol on March 26 over the proposed law protecting gay students.

Assemblyman Levine stressed that gay teenagers need more protection under the law. “It’s tough enough to be a teenager; and then to be a teenager who discovers and realizes that they’re gay is even harder, because of the harassment and discrimination you face,” said Levine. “The suicide rate amongst LGBT youth is much, much higher than the rest of teenagers.” He introduced this measure requiring schools to provide tolerance training for teachers. If they do not comply, they run the risk of losing state funding.

Raul Hernandez, 18-year-old San Francisco high school senior, was one of the leaders of that gay youth rally. He said he marched because taunting at his school was so severe that he had to change schools. “As a student at my former school, I felt really uncomfortable there because it was unsafe, because there was a lot of harassment and discrimination going around. It got to the point where there was an actual gay bashing,” Hernandez said.

National news on TV showed counter protestors holding overtly anti-gay placards at the Capitol demonstrating that they were strongly opposed to what they claimed was a gay agenda in the classroom. “It’s clear,” said Luke Otterstad of the Church of the Divide. “You can ask a two-year-old that men and women are different. There’s a difference biologically between them. This bill is not about safety. This bill is about sexual indoctrination and redefinition of gender.”

Queer activists argue that safety is not an agenda; it’s a right. More than 200,000 middle school and high school students are harassed every year based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation, according to the “2004 Safe Place to Learn” report. The report found that students who are harassed because of their sexual orientation are more likely to suffer from depression, miss school because they feel unsafe, and struggle academically.

To advocate for change, LGBT youth and their allies rallied on the east side of the state Capitol for an event they called Queer Youth Advocacy Day. Co-sponsored by Gay-Straight Alliance Network, Equality California, and BIENESTAR, the event gave youth advocates an opportunity to tell their stories and meet with their legislators.

“We gather in Sacramento to make sure discrimination and harassment in schools doesn’t get swept under the rug or brushed aside,” said Nicole Cayanne, a straight ally and youth leader for the event. Cayanne is president of the Rocklin High School Gay-Straight Alliance and got involved in Queer Youth Advocacy Day last year to support her LGBT peers who feel they are not protected at school when they face discrimination. “I’ve seen my own friends get harassed and pushed around because of their sexual orientation, and it’s just not fair,” said the 18-year-old. “It’s not right, and it shouldn’t be happening to youth – especially at school.”

“As a Latino gay student, I should be protected from discrimination at all times based on both my ethnicity and sexual orientation,” said Miguel Corona, a 17-year-old high school student from Pomona, who participated in this year’s event. “As long as schools and administrators ignore the problem, students like me will be at risk of prejudice and harassment at school.”

State hearings for AB 394 begin in April.