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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The National Day of Silence is a day in which | ||||||
3 | students take a vow of silence to bring attention to the | ||||||
4 | anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender name-calling, | ||||||
5 | bullying, and harassment faced by individuals in schools; and
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6 | WHEREAS, The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network | ||||||
7 | designates the third Friday of every April as the National Day | ||||||
8 | of Silence; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Hundreds of thousands of students at more than | ||||||
10 | 8,000 schools have participated in the National Day of Silence | ||||||
11 | in past years; and
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12 | WHEREAS, The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education | ||||||
13 | Network's 2011 National School Climate Survey illustrates the | ||||||
14 | pervasive harassment and victimization faced by lesbian, gay, | ||||||
15 | bisexual, and transgender students by documenting their | ||||||
16 | experiences within the preceding academic year; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Nearly 82% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and | ||||||
18 | transgender students reported being verbally harassed by their | ||||||
19 | peers at school because of their sexual orientation, and more | ||||||
20 | than 60% were verbally harassed because of their gender | ||||||
21 | expression; and
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1 | WHEREAS, More than 38% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and | ||||||
2 | transgender students reported being physically harassed by | ||||||
3 | their peers at school because of their sexual orientation, and | ||||||
4 | over 27% were physically harassed because of their gender | ||||||
5 | expression; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Over 18% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and | ||||||
7 | transgender students reported being physically assaulted by | ||||||
8 | their peers at school because of their sexual orientation, and | ||||||
9 | more than 12% were physically assaulted because of their gender | ||||||
10 | expression; and | ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, More than 60% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and | ||||||
12 | transgender students reported that they felt unsafe in school, | ||||||
13 | and nearly 30% reported missing at least one entire school day | ||||||
14 | in the preceding month because of safety concerns; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Transgender students were more likely than all | ||||||
16 | other students to report feeling unsafe at school because of | ||||||
17 | their gender expression; and | ||||||
18 | WHEREAS, According to the National Transgender | ||||||
19 | Discrimination Survey, those who expressed a transgender | ||||||
20 | identity or gender nonconformity while in grades K through 12 | ||||||
21 | reported alarming rates of harassment, physical assault, and |
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1 | sexual violence so severe that almost 15% of those surveyed had | ||||||
2 | to leave school; and
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3 | WHEREAS, Student academic performance is affected such | ||||||
4 | that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students who | ||||||
5 | experienced high levels of verbal harassment because of their | ||||||
6 | sexual orientation or gender expression report a grade point | ||||||
7 | average nearly a half grade lower than those of lesbian, gay, | ||||||
8 | bisexual, and transgender students who experienced low levels | ||||||
9 | of such harassment; and | ||||||
10 | WHEREAS, The presence of supportive staff contributed to a | ||||||
11 | range of positive indicators, including fewer reports of | ||||||
12 | missing school, fewer reports of feeling unsafe, greater | ||||||
13 | academic achievement, higher educational aspirations, and a | ||||||
14 | greater sense of school belonging; and
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15 | WHEREAS, A growing number of cities and local education | ||||||
16 | authorities in the State of Illinois are adopting laws and | ||||||
17 | policies to prohibit name-calling, bullying, harassment, and | ||||||
18 | discrimination against students on the basis of their sexual | ||||||
19 | orientation and gender identity or expression; and | ||||||
20 | WHEREAS, Every child should be guaranteed an education free | ||||||
21 | from name-calling, bullying, harassment, and discrimination | ||||||
22 | regardless of his or her sexual orientation and gender identity |
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1 | or expression; therefore, be it
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2 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
3 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
4 | we show our support for the goals and ideals of the National | ||||||
5 | Day of Silence; and be it further
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6 | RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor to issue a proclamation | ||||||
7 | calling on the people of the United
States to observe the | ||||||
8 | National Day of Silence with appropriate ceremonies, programs, | ||||||
9 | and activities; and be it further | ||||||
10 | RESOLVED, That we encourage cities and local education | ||||||
11 | authorities in the State of Illinois to adopt laws and policies | ||||||
12 | to prohibit name-calling, bullying, harassment, and | ||||||
13 | discrimination against students, teachers, and other school | ||||||
14 | staff, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender | ||||||
15 | identity or expression, so that our nation's schools are | ||||||
16 | institutions where all individuals are able to focus on | ||||||
17 | learning.
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