UPPER LAKE — After a middle school student was bullied for years and beaten up last fall, Upper Lake Union Elementary School District agreed to take steps to prevent anti-gay harassment and discrimination in a settlement the district reached Monday with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC).
It started as name-calling in second grade, according to David and his mother, Maria. David”s classmates taunted, shunned and chased him because of his tendency to play with girls rather than boys, his preference for cheerleading and dance rather than football and baseball, and because he liked to play with dolls, according to Maria.
“I can”t remember a day at school when I wasn”t called a faggot or gay,” David said.
The bullying and taunting culminated in violence in October 2007, when David was attacked by a group of his peers in the school locker room at Upper Lake Middle School after gym class. David was knocked to the ground and kicked in the head, stomach and sides while the boys screamed at him, calling him “fag” and “queer.”
“He crawled out of that locker room. He could not get up ? he crawled,” Maria said.
David”s bruising was severe enough that his doctor ordered a blood test to ensure he didn”t have liver or kidney damage, according to Maria.
Maria said she tried for years to resolve the matter by talking to teachers and school administrators, and was told repeatedly that the bullying behavior was not condoned.
“I felt that they were telling us being called a faggot is not a big deal. I said we don”t allow that at home, so I don”t expect that to be used toward my son at school,” Maria said.
She went to the ACLU-NC after David was beaten, believing the school would not do enough to solve the problem.
ACLU-NC attorney Juniper Lesnik wrote the district a letter stating that David had legal claims against the district. Lesnik said the matter was settled without a lawsuit.
The settlement included a $25,000 award to David”s family to be used for David”s future educational needs, an amount Lesnik said is substantially less than such cases are worth when they go to trial.
Steps the district agreed to take include putting anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies in the student handbook, requiring lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender (LGBT) training for students and teachers and staff, implementing the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network”s (GLSEN) “No Name Calling Week” curriculum in all district schools, implementing programs such as the GLSEN National Day of Silence and the Gay/Straight Alliance Network”s “Making your school a hate-free zone” program, and supporting a Gay/Straight Alliance club at the middle school.
“This is a really good start. I”m hoping these steps give teachers and administrative people at the school district enough tools to work with and grow with so any kid who is different does not have to go through the same thing mine did,” Maria said
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
