Several federal departments under President Obama have made moves to benefit the LGBT community, but the Department of Education has done little. This is despite growing evidence that LGBT youth are among those most at risk and that safe-schools programs benefit all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
I’ve explored this issue in detail in a two-part series for Keen News Service. I hope you’ll all go have a read; this has been an issue that has slipped under the radar with all the focus on ENDA, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and other major legislation—all of which is important, but no reason to ignore what is happening to our children.
I should also note that the two pieces of legislation I mention in the articles—the Safe Schools Improvement Act and the Student Nondiscrimination Act—protect not only LGBT students, but those who are perceived as such and those who associate with them. That would include children of LGBT parents, no matter what their own orientations and identities.