Regarding:
”
Is student lawsuit about $1 million or gay harassment?,
”
Aug. 20.
Why must the suit be exclusively about one or the other? If the
Morgan Hill School District admits that it failed to address the
harassment of gay students, even after it was brought to their
attention, they should be held monetarily liable for the physical
and psychological torment of these students.
Regarding: “Is student lawsuit about $1 million or gay harassment?,” Aug. 20.
Why must the suit be exclusively about one or the other? If the Morgan Hill School District admits that it failed to address the harassment of gay students, even after it was brought to their attention, they should be held monetarily liable for the physical and psychological torment of these students.
Additionally, they should be forced to take proactive measures that will prevent this suffering from recurring in the future.
Some, like the district’s attorney, assert that the damages sought are “excessive.”
If these individuals familiarized themselves with solid statistical evidence on teen suicides, they would reformulate their opinions. The Sacramento Bee recently reported the findings of University of California, Davis Professor Stephen Russell in an article on a gay teen that turned to suicide for a respite from pain (3/15/03).
Russell found that sexual minority youth attempt suicide twice as often as their heterosexual peers. This is not a coincidence.
The way this issue was framed suggests that this suit is about money grubbing gay kids. That insinuation is nothing short of absurd.
Consider this angle: Gay students beat odds, live to see their day in court.
G.M. Smith, Davis
