Penn. School District Allegedly Discriminated Against LGBTQ+ Students
(CNN) — A Pennsylvania school district is under fire for allegedly discriminating against LGBTQ students.After a months-long investigation, the Pennsylvania American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint Thursday with the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division on behalf of seven transgender and non-binary students in the Central Bucks School District, accusing the state's fourth-largest district of illegal gender discrimination in maintaining, perpetuating and exacerbating what the civil rights organization deems a hostile education environment for LGBTQ+ students."We spoke to dozens of students, parents, teachers, guidance counselors, librarians, and community stakeholders," said Witold J.
Walczak, the Pennsylvania ACLU legal director. "Trans and non-binary and LGBTQ+ students are harassed, bullied, persistently, severely and the school district historically has done very little to help and support these students."The complaint indicates administrators were well-aware of the hostile environment, quoting Superintendent Abram M.
Lucabaugh's comment at a school board meeting in May that for LGBTQ+ students "a successful day is getting through the day and not being harassed." The filing argues the district's treatment of LGBTQ+ students has been "at best indifferent" and says it has more recently become "overtly discriminatory and hostile" with tragic consequences, citing multiple serious incidents of student self-harm, including a trans student attempting to take his life at school in 2019.The district's superintendent declined to comment explicitly on the complaint."We believe it is paramount that all students and teachers are cared for and respected as.
