The Albemarle County school board voted 5 to 2 last night to expand their student anti-discrimination rules to cover sexual orientation, WINA reports. The change largely resulted from the efforts of the Gay-Straight Alliance at MHS. (An organization that, ironically, is forced to operate as a stealth school club, because MHS won’t permit them to exist.) The two dissenting votes came from Ken Boyd and
Chairman Charles Ward.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
17 Responses to “Albemarle Bans Sexual Orientation Discrimination”
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Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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This is great news, now they will be forced to find specific individual reasons to hate someone.
i suppose this means the gay-straight alliance will now be allowed to exist? why hasnt every school in the country done this already?
Now what about the other groups that cannot change who they are and want to be accepted? What about the fat kids, the pimply-faced kids, the tall kids?
I applaud Messrs. Boyd and Ward for having the gumption and intestinal fortitude to stand up for what is right.
As we perpetuate the self-segregation and victimization status, we are moving closer and closer to each and every person being their own protected class.
–Jim D.
Last time I checked, no one around here was beaten to near-death for being fat, pimply or tall. So it’s pointless to compare those things to the sort of sheer animosity that a startlingly large number of people have towards those with different sexual orientation. And as someone who graduated very recently from local public schools, I can vouch for the fact that it is indeed a very real problem there.
I may be mistaken, but hasn’t the Charlottesville school system still not enacted a similar rule? If even the county schools have gotten around to it, I think it’s high time the city got its ass in gear and took care of this.
Now what about the other groups that cannot change who they are and want to be accepted? What about the fat kids, the pimply-faced kids, the tall kids?
As long as we’re going to maintain a system through which we specify what groups of people that we cannot discriminate against, then we must list all groups that are targets of discrimination. It sounds to me like you are fundamentally opposed to anti-discrimination policies, which in case you should not be praising these board members’ exclusiveness, but instead criticising them for failing to strike down the policies entirely.
Matter of fact, I am opposed to anti-discrimination policies that specifically list individual groups … I am for each and every person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, whatever, being treated equally, good or bad.
I accept that homosexuals say they cannot change who/what they are, that “they were born that way.” In turn, people with gland problems were “born that way” and cannot change who/what they are. When I was in high school, and college for that matter, fat kids were discriminated against, and taunted and teased … so were the dumb kids. Should we have special interest groups/protection for stupid people too?
What I am saying is that at some point, we must say, every one is different … deal with it get on with life. By singling out individual groups for the sought-after victim status, we are serving only to isolate those groups even more … totally contrary to their professed desire, if I understand it correctly.
At some point, we all need to grow up.
Bullying is illegal does it matter why? Are gays any safer,now? Should we make rules not to pick on kids in wheelchairs or male students in the drama club or debate team? AND the question no one has asked, was there really a problem or was this a classic case of a “solution” seeking a real problem. Has any one noticed it was just Monticello that had this need, are there no other gay students in all of Albemarle that needed this protection.
High school shootings have not been because some was pick on because they where gay- these kids went on rampages because they felt like outcast. The school should be worring about this problem and not waste time on a promblem that doesn’t exist in any kind of comparision.
What exactly do the anti-discrimination rules already in place entail? Does the new inclusion of sexual orientation read much like the EEO disclaimer on a job application? If so, then what’s the big deal?
And according to that WINA link, the employees don’t get as much protection. What’s that about?
is it safe to say we’re opposed to discrimination . ?
Must we enumerate each and every protected group/class?
What if a certain group is not on the list? Is it acceptable to discriminate against those without the determination or inclination to get themselves on the list?
… a search on the American Heritage Dictionary site for discrimination returns:
sexism,
ageism,
ableism,
lookism(?!),
heterosexism,
speciesism …
… Separatism … The policy or practice of political, legal, economic, or social discrimination, as against the members of a minority group … is this not what we are doing by creating more and more groups of people? The whole can be split only so many times before we are left with nothing at all.
How many -isms must we add to the list before we are -ism’ed out?
Was a local gay person recently beaten to near-death? I’m not doubting you, I just hadn’t heard about this — not surprising, considering my limited sources of Charlottesville news.
How many -isms must we add to the list before we are -ism’ed out?
37.
You’re jumping to conclusions by saying that “these kids went on rampages because they felt like outcasts”
I felt like an outcast in school and I’m not violent. Its easy for us to overgeneralize, to think that the world is cut and dry. “It must be the parents” “it must be television and movies”
It’s not that simple. The witch hunt following the rash of school shootings was arguably just as bad if not worse than the initial trajedies.
You’re also jumping to conclusions by implying that the previous poster somehow generalized that all outcasts will go on rampages. Specifically, he said “these kids went on rampages because they felt like outcasts.” That’s an accurate statement in itself, particularly if you’ve given even a cursory examination to the writings of, say, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. What actually caused them to feel like outcasts is another question entirely.
The witch hunt following the rash of school shootings was arguably just as bad if not worse than the initial trajedies.
Well, I suppose anything is arguable by someone, but I think you’d have a very difficult time convincing most people that the murder of 14 people and wounding of 22 others is on the same level as someone getting suspended for writing a fictional story about killing her teacher.
They also drank milk. Is that why they did it?
The comparison is based on the scale of the problem. One affects millions, the other only a handfull.
They also drank milk. Is that why they did it?
No, actually, they did it because they clip their toenails with lead clippers.
I do understand causation vs. correlation. Like I said, if you care to study the available documents, it is possible to come to an informed conclusion with respect to the contributing factors. Not for all such scenarios, of course, but for the one I referred to.
The comparison is based on the scale of the problem. One affects millions, the other only a handfull.
Which is exactly why the comparison is deeply flawed. Severity, not scale, is the key here.