"Bullying Bill" Sent to Committee as Session Ends

Story >

"Bullying Bill" Sent to Committee as Session Ends

Family Policy Facts - August 3, 2007
The 2007 Session of the North Carolina General Assembly was gaveled to a close at 10:45 pm, Thursday night, shortly after the “Bullying Bill” was removed from consideration and sent to a House committee. The version of HB 1366—School Violence Prevention Act that passed the N.C. House on May 24 included language that would grant special legal protections to public school students and staff on the basis of their “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression.” The North Carolina Family Policy Council strongly opposed the bill because it would affirm and legally legitimize homosexuality, bisexuality, cross dressing and other "alternative" sexual behaviors in our public schools and would assure these topics would be discussed with school children on a regular basis.

The bill that was before the House in its final hours, however, was the Senate–passed version. In a late-night committee meeting on the floor of the N.C. Senate on Tuesday, July 31, members of the Senate Judiciary 2 Committee passed a substitute bill that removed the objectionable language from HB 1366. The Senate then approved the modified version of of the bill on two required votes Wednesday and Thursday. Because the Senate amended the bill, HB 1366 returned to the House Thursday for a concurrence vote on the Senate change.

North Carolina Family Policy Council director of government relations John Rustin commented, “When HB 1366 returned to the House for concurrence, we expected the bill sponsor, Rep. Rick Glazier, to ask the House not to concur, so the bill could be forced into a conference committee where the objectionable language could be reinserted. Not only did Rep. Glazier face significant opposition in the House, but the Senate had clearly indicated they would not accept the language.”

After it appeared that the chances of successfully reinserting the language in conference committee did not exist, Rep. Glazier made a motion to remove HB 1366 from the House floor and send it to the House Judiciary 1 Committee. Thus, the bill remains eligible for further consideration when the General Assembly returns for the 2008 Session on May 13.

“It is now abundantly clear that this bill is not about protecting students from bullying at school, but is an attempt to use our public schools to indoctrinate our children to accept “alternative” sexual behaviors as normal and appropriate.” Rustin said. “When you boil it all down, the only real change this bill would make is to force every local school board in the state to amend their existing anti-bullying and harassment policies to include special protections for ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity or expression.’ If this were not the ultimate goal, the proponents of HB 1366 would have accepted the Senate version of the bill and the new law would soon be in effect.”