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At state fair, Sen. Hann takes aim at anti-bullying law, pro-gay rights
At the Minnesota State Fair, Sen. David Hann, a Republican from Eden Prairie, dropped by the booth of conservative Christian radio station AM 980 KKMS to talk about the issues of the day. The conversation for most of the segment was devoted to the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act, an anti-bullying measure passed into […]
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Senate blocks Franken’s Student Nondiscrimination Act
The United States Senate blocked an amendment offered by Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat from Minnesota, that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to federal education civil rights law. The vote needed 60 votes to be added to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization bill. It only garnered 52 votes. Franken offered […]
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Justin’s Gift to screen Same Difference, an anti-bullying documentary
Justin’s Gift, a nonprofit in the Anoka-Hennepin School District area dedicated to youth and anti-bullying, will screen the documentary Same Difference at an event on July 17. Same Difference is a documentary project “that shows the difference between learning in a supportive school climate versus an oppressive school climate” by tracing the paths of two […]
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Anoka-Hennepin’s conservative parents want God not gays in school anti-bullying policies
Conservative Christian parents showed up in droves at Monday night’s meeting of the Anoka-Hennepin School Board to protest a recommendation by the district’s anti-bullying task force to increase LGBT-inclusion in the learning environment. Anoka-Hennepin is no stranger to controversy over the well-being of LGBT students. The district had a gag order on discussing LGBT topics […]
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Religious right leaders announce anti-LGBT legislative priorities for 2015
Groups representing Minnesota’s conservative Christians have released their legislative priorities for the 2015 legislative session. Both Catholics and Protestants have set their sites on Minnesota’s trans-inclusive high school athletics policy, the 2014 Safe and Supportive Schools Act, and “religious freedom.” The Minnesota Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, […]
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Bill to gut anti-bullying law introduced in MN Senate
A bill offered by Republican Sens. Dave Thompson of Lakeville, David Hann of Eden Prairie, Roger Chamberlain of Lino Lakes, and Nienow of Cambridge would exempt a large number of school districts from the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act, a comprehensive and LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying bill passed in 2014. The bill is identical to one […]
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GOP bill takes aim at Minnesota’s anti-bullying law
A bill offered by Rep. Pat Garofalo, a Republican from Farmington, would exempt a large number of school districts from the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act, a comprehensive and LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying bill passed in 2014. House File 102 would change the safe schools act by exempting school districts from the law if they already […]
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CPL board member blames Anoka Hennepin schools, Bachmann link on Rolling Stone writer
Content provided by Bluestem Prairie and republished with permission. For more in-depth news from Greater Minnesota, check out Bluestemprairie.com. According to posts on Facebook by Child Protection League board member Julie Quist, a February 2012 Rolling Stone story by Sabrina Rubin Erdely–author of an recently discredited story about rape on campus–led to the Anoka-Hennepin public […]
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GLSEN releases MN school climate report for LGBT students
The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network released findings from a 2013 survey of LGBT students last week. The report shows that in 2013, before the passage of the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act, LGBT students faced a hostile environment in many Minnesota schools. According to GLSEN, the report demonstrates that “Minnesota schools were not […]
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Transgender inclusion, marriage equality, and anti-bullying at issue in MN House debates
Despite a media narrative that LGBT issues are not a campaign issue in 2014, those issues have come up multiple times in debates across the state. Marriage equality and the newly passed Safe and Supportive Schools Act (which included protections for LGBT students) have been popular topics at debates, and for the first time in […]