RALEIGH, N.C. – The North Carolina House Education Committee debated and approved a bill requiring schools adopt policies combating bullying.

The list of likely targets, such as gay students, was included despite attempts by some to soften the bill’s language. The legislation says bullying includes acts motivated by bias against “any actual or perceived characteristic” of a victim. Examples are race, gender and disability. Including sexual orientation and gender identity in the bill was hotly contested.

Dissenters said the bill is redundant to other legislation and would legitimize a lifestyle that many believe to be immoral. Supporters of the bill, however, say that the list of individuals prone to being bullied needs to be clearly defined.

According to the 2005 National School Climate Survey, as reported previously by Campus Safety, more than a third (37.8 percent) of students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender experienced physical harassment at school on the basis of sexual orientation. More than a quarter (26.1 percent) on the basis of their gender expression. Nearly one-fifth (17.6 percent) of students had been physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation and over a tenth (11.8 percent) because of their gender expression.

The bill would require school districts to adopt policies against bullying and harassment. It would also require administrators to have guidelines for reporting these incidents and procedures for investigation and punishment.

The legislation will now go to the full House and is expected to face additional opposition.

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