Full Text of HR0202 98th General Assembly
HR0202 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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
| 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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