In Brief

Staff Reports

Washington State: Poll shows that support for same-sex marriage is in substantial lead

SEATTLE, WA -- A new statewide survey by Public Policy Polling conducted June 14-17, which surveyed 1,073 eligible voters, was published by Seattle Post-Intelligencer Tuesday showing that marriage equality had a 51-42 percent lead.

In the polling, respondents were asked to identify one of three choices: 47 percent said they would favor same-sex marriage, 30 percent opted for the state’s present civil unions “everything but marriage” law; and just 21 percent said they would give no legal recognition to same-sex couples.

Washington Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law a measure passed in February by the state legislature that legalised same-sex marriage, which made Washington the seventh in the nation to allow same-sex couples to marry. The law was put on on hold after same-sex marriage opponents collected the required 120,577 signatures to put the measure before the voters.

If voters approve Referendum 74, then the state's marriage equality will be law.

Maryland and Maine will also vote on same-sex marriage this fall. The Maryland Legislature passed marriage equality. As with Washington, opponents have garnered enough signatures to force a vote. In Maine, same-sex marriage supporters have put the issue on the ballot.

Minnesota will vote in November on a measure, backed by the Republican Legislature, that enshrines in the state constitution a definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

Florida School District Settles Anti-gay Bullying Complaint From Former Student

Luke Herbert 

PALM COAST, FL -- A Florida school district has formally settled a complaint lodged against it to the U.S. Office of Civil Rights which alleged that the staff at Flagler Palm Coast High School allowed a gay former student to be bullied.

The Flagler County school district's attorney, Kristy Gavin, said that the district school officials have agreed to provide yearly training for instructional staff and employees who investigate complaints of sex discrimination and harassment and survey students about school climate.

"It's mostly an extension of steps that the district is already taking to protect students, Gavin said adding, "From my perspective, we found it was fair because we did not believe that we had done anything wrong."

Gavin said she didn't want to minimize the seriousness of bullying, but Herbert's case is a "non-issue" now because it's been resolved.

"I think that this is an issue that has long since passed," Gavin said. "It's really a non-issue. I think that was made very clear when students at the school were interviewed by (the Office of Civil Rights), that (the students) considered this to be a non-issue."

17-year-old Luke Herbert along with his mother, Dorene Davenport, filed a complaint in 2011 with the U.S. Office of Civil Rights alleging that Herbert was bullied while he was a freshman at Flagler Palm Coast High School during the 2010-2011 school year. The complaint said he was suffering verbal harassment and additionally was physically assaulted.

School officials countered that they had investigated Herbert's claims of anti-gay bullying and disciplined another student who had hit Herbert in late 2010.

Herbert says he's now left feeling "emotionally and physically violated."

A year ago, the Flagler School Board adjusted its policies on bullying to explicitly prohibit harm to students and employees based on their "sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability (physical, mental and educational), marital status, socioeconomic background, ancestry, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, linguistic preference, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or social/family background, or being viewed as different in its education programs or admissions to education programs."

The board agreed to consider, though not necessarily approve, those changes in an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Herbert. But according to Herbert, it doesn't erase what he calls a year that "changed my life for the worse."

"I just feel like everything that took place truly ripped our lives apart," his mother said, adding that she's "always had a high respect for the schools and the teachers," but her son and her experience dealing with the issue was discouraging. 

For Herbert, the mainstream high school experience has left him feeling left "out in the cold." He withdrew from FPC last spring and tried online classes but then switched to high school classes at the Daytona State College campus in Daytona Beach. But he said he felt "out of place" there and was suspended from that program because he received too many referrals. 

He's also struggled with depression and attended therapy sessions, he said.

Davenport said she hopes her son can complete his education and one day "be an advocate for other kids going through this." 

Herbert said he's kept in touch with one friend from school but most of his classmates stopped talking to him long before he left campus. He feels that the people who targeted him got away with "actions of violence and hatred." 

"I miss the environment of being able to go to school and being a normal teenager," Herbert said. "It's been a struggle." ~ The Daytona Beach News Journal