Breaking News! Miami-Dade Schools Now Protect All LGBT Students
Miami-Dade School District, the fourth largest in the nation, has added gender identity to their harassment and anti-bullying policy.
Equality Florida along with and members of our Miami-Dade Safe Schools Coalition have worked for more than a decade to expand these vital protections and Miami remained one of the few large Florida cities without such a policy, until now.
With this latest victory, 1.55 million students representing nearly 60% of Florida’s school population are now protected from bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity - ranking Florida fourth in the nation.
"This is a tipping point for the state but our work continues until every school district large and small provides these vital protections." said Stratton Pollitzer, Equality Florida's Deputy Director.
In 2008, Equality Florida led an eight-year coalition effort to pass a statewide anti-bullying policy that resulted in the passage of the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act. Since then, Equality Florida has been working with local school districts across the state, including Miami-Dade, to create policies that specifically protect students from anti-LGBT bullying.
From day one this campaign has been a broad coalition effort involving students, parents, teachers, and grassroots organizations.
"The PTA has long recognized the importance of protecting all children including our LGBT students. We're proud to have partnered for years with Equality Florida, and we're proud of the role we played in pushing these new protections forward," said Karen Rivo, past Health and Safety Chair of Miami-Dade County Council of PTAs / PTSAs.
“For many years the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Equality Florida have partnered to protect all students from bullying,” stated Andrew Rosenkranz, ADL Florida Regional Director. “As a national leader in countering bias and bullying, we have consistently advocated inclusion of enumerated personal characteristics to truly protect all students. As such, we are extremely pleased and commend the Miami-Dade School Board for adding gender identity to its anti-harassment policy.”
In addition to working closely with the 30+ organizations that make up our Miami-Dade Safe Schools Coalition, Equality Florida has also been on the ground in Miami-Dade schools, training students to lead Gay Straight Alliances (GSA’s) and training their adult GSA advisors. Currently, nearly 40 Miami-Dade GSAs are part of our Florida GSA Network, one of the fastest growing state networks in the nation.
Special Thanks to our local, state and national coalition partners who worked to make this victory possible:
The Anti-Defamation League, NAACP, Safe Schools South Florida, NOW, AAUW, AFL-CIO, Alliance for GLBTQ Youth, FEA, PTA, The Student Government Association of Miami Dade, Pridelines, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Yes Institute, NCJW, NCCJ, United Teachers of Dade, Save Dade, the Non-Violence Project, SEIU, Unity Coalition, Lambda Legal, NCLR, the Greater Miami Urban League, and the Miami Dade Community Task Force to Prevent Bullying.
