Caitlyn Jenner's speech last night was epic. Within the speech she mentioned several youths that had taken their own lives and / or had their lives taken away. She stated …
They’re getting bullied, they’re getting beaten up, they’re getting murdered and they’re committing suicide. The numbers that you just heard before are staggering, but they are the reality of what it is like to be trans today … Just last month, the body of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson, a transgendered young woman of color, was found in a field in Mississippi stabbed to death. I also want to tell you about Sam Taub, a 15-year-old transgendered young man from Bloomfield, Michigan. In early April, Sam took his own life. Now, Sam’s story haunts me in particular because his death came just a few days before my interview with Diane Sawyer. Every time something like this happens, people wonder, ‘Could it have been different if spotlighting this issue with more attention could have changed the way things happen?’ We’ll never know. – washingtonpost.com
What if Caitlyn's had come out a little sooner? What if the Diane Sawyer special was aired just a week earlier? Could a life or lives have been saved? That's a dangerous game to play some times. Should we have done this, should we have done that. It makes us think too much about what we had the chance to do instead of what we have the ability to do.
I often think about if I had come out as a teacher during my 10 years in front of the classroom. Should I put myself out there in the hopes that I could be a role model for those that needed it? I never proclaimed my sexuality to any of the students and instead just lived and hopefully led by example as to how to be a caring human being.
Well, I wish the Senate had decided to do that, lead by example and show that they are caring human beings. Fat chance of that I guess.
Literally, 45 Republicans – and only Republicans – all voted to let LGBTQ kids continue to be bullied and discriminated against in our nation's school. Six Republican Senators did cross the aisle to vote for Sen. Franken's legislation, an amendment attached to a bill updating No Child Left Behind – an appropriate gesture, in fact, but eight more Republicans were needed to bring to vote to 60 "yeas." – thenewcivilrightsmovement.com
Just a day before Caitlyn Jenner's acceptance speech for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, the Senate voted down a proposed bill that would allow LGBT bullying to be treated like all other bullying that happens within our school system.
Al Franken, a Democratic US Senator from Minnesota, [Monday July 13] delivered a powerful address to his colleagues about anti-LGBT bullying and discrimination …
“This amendment would simply provide LGBT kids with the same legal remedies available to other kids under our federal civil rights laws,” Franken said. – thenewcivilrightsmovement.com
Here is Al Franken's address in full.
"It is our responsibility as not just Senators, but as adults – to protect children and help them flourish."
The bill did not pass. No matter how they voted, we should all contact our Senators and tell them we either agreed or disagreed with their vote. Give them words of praise and encouragement or give them some advice they are apparently missing. I could contact mine from Florida, but they were either campaigning for the Presidency or having surgery.
Maybe your Senator will be able to explain how s/he voted. Maybe there was more to the bill than just "bullying." The New Civil Rights Movement did state that Al Franken's proposal was tied to a bill designed to update the No Child Left Behind program, originally put into action by Bush in 2001. Maybe they voted it all down because of the larger package. How could you ever find out? Like I said in the last paragraph – contact them!
Here's the list of all U.S. Senators who this afternoon voted to allow our nation's LGBTQ youth to continue to be bullied – these are the NAY's. You'll notice that each NAY is from a Republican Senator, headed by Sen. Alexander:
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Capito (R-WV)
Cassidy (R-LA)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Cotton (R-AR)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Daines (R-MT)Enzi (R-WY)
Ernst (R-IA)
Fischer (R-NE)
Flake (R-AZ)
Gardner (R-CO)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)Paul (R-KY)
Perdue (R-GA)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rounds (R-SD)
Sasse (R-NE)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Sullivan (R-AK)
Thune (R-SD)
Tillis (R-NC)
Toomey (R-PA)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)Here's the list of all the US Senators who voted to help protect LGBTQ youth from bullying – these are the YEAs:
Ayotte (R-NH)
Baldwin (D-WI)
Bennet (D-CO)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Booker (D-NJ)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-ME)
Coons (D-DE)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)Heinrich (D-NM)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Heller (R-NV)
Hirono (D-HI)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kaine (D-VA)
King (I-ME)
Kirk (R-IL)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Leahy (D-VT)
Manchin (D-WV)
Markey (D-MA)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murphy (D-CT)Murray (D-WA)
Peters (D-MI)
Portman (R-OH)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-NM)
Warner (D-VA)
Warren (D-MA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)Not voting were U.S. Republican Senators and 2016 presidential candidates Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio. Also not voting was U.S. Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, who has been out after undergoing cancer surgery Monday.
You can also see the full list at Congrss.gov.
You can and should contact your U.S. Senator to let them know how you feel about their vote. If they voted yes, thank them and urge them to vote yes again. If they voted no, please explain to them why their vote literally is putting children in harm's way.
You can also tweet your Senators, or look the up on Facebook. – thenewcivilrightsmovement.com
We can sit back and say oh well or we can sit back and tweet, call, email. Send your Senators a message no matter how they voted! Those that are supporting our causes need some reassurance that we know they are fighting for us and making us proud.
If you want to learn about how to stop cyber bullying, head over to this Stop Cyberbullying Guide
