Youth | Discrimination | Connecticut

All Connecticut public school students have the right:

• To be safe in school without being bullied,
• To access information about LGBTQ+ subjects including educational websites,
• To dress and present yourself in a manner consistent with your gender identity,
• To free speech and expression. This means you have the right to express ideas that may offend other people and you have the right to disagree with others, as long as you express those ideas in a respectful way.

All Connecticut public and many private school students have the right:

• To be protected from discrimination or harassment based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or HIV status,
• To form a Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) that gets treated the same as every other non-curricular group. This means equal funding, access to facilities, and the ability to choose your group’s name.

Outside of school you have the right:

• To be protected from discrimination based on your actual or perceived sexual orientation, HIV status, or gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations (like restaurants or stores).
• To give your own consent to get tested for HIV without your parents’ permission. For more specific information, see the “HIV/AIDS” Issue Area.
• To report to the police anyone in or out of school who physically harms you, threatens you, or vandalizes your property.

Federal law also protects you from discrimination at school

You are protected from discrimination in public schools or other schools that receive federal funding because of Title IX. Title IX is a federal civil rights law, and it prohibits discrimination based on sex – including sexual orientation or gender identity – across the country.

Yes. Since 1991, Connecticut has prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in public and private employment, housing, public accommodations, and credit (Conn. Gen. Stat. sec. 46a-81c to 46a-81q). In July 2011, these laws were extended to protect transgender people when Governor Malloy signed Public Act 11-55, An Act Concerning Discrimination, into law. The act, which went into effect on October 1, 2011, added “gender identity or expression” to Connecticut’s list of protected classes. For more detailed information visit GLAD’s and the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund’s (CWEALF) publication, Connecticut:  Legal Protections for Transgender People, at: Connecticut: Legal Protections for Transgender People

Wi, Lwa Jeneral Connecticut, Seksyon 10-15c, entèdi diskriminasyon kont elèv lekòl piblik nan aktivite, pwogram ak kou etid ki baze sou oryantasyon seksyèl oswa idantite oswa ekspresyon seksyèl, ansanm ak ras, koulè, sèks, relijyon ak orijin nasyonal. Pou plis enfòmasyon sou lwa anti-diskriminasyon Connecticut la ak kijan pou depoze yon plent kont diskriminasyon, gade Zòn Pwoblèm "Diskriminasyon" an.

Wi, Connecticut kreye gid pou distri lekòl yo sou dwa, responsablite ak pi bon pratik edikasyonèl pou elèv transganr ak elèv ki pa konfòm ak sèks yo.

Gid yo gen ladan sa ki annapre yo:

• Lekòl yo ta dwe respekte non ak pwonon yon elèv transganr;
• Lekòl yo ta dwe respekte vi prive elèv transganr yo konsènan nenpòt enfòmasyon medikal, ansyen non, elatriye;
• Non ak sèks ki sou dosye yon elèv ta dwe koresponn ak idantite sèks elèv la;
• Elèv transjan yo ta dwe kapab itilize twalèt, vestiyè, ak espas pou chanje rad ki koresponn ak idantite seksyèl yo;
• Nan nenpòt aktivite ki separe selon sèks (tankou atletik), elèv transganr yo ta dwe kapab patisipe nan yon fason ki koresponn ak idantite sèks yo.

Pou plis enfòmasyon sou gid sa a, gade "Gid sou Pwoteksyon Dwa Sivil ak Sipò pou Elèv Transjan":

Gid sou Pwoteksyon Dwa Sivil ak Sipò pou Elèv Transganr yo 

Yes. Connecticut non-discrimination law defines “sexual orientation” as either “having a preference for heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality, having a history of such preference or being identified with such preference…” (Conn. Gen. Stat. sec. 46a-81a (emphasis added)). This language includes discrimination based on perception. For example, if a person is fired because they are perceived to be gay, they may invoke the protection of the anti-discrimination law regardless of their actual orientation.

Similarly, the law defines “gender identity or expression” as:

[A] person’s gender-related identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that gender-related identity, appearance or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the person’s physiology or assigned sex at birth… (Conn. Gen. Stat. sec. 46a-51(21) (emphasis added)).

Possibly. Federal law prohibits sex discrimination in public schools that receive federal funding. Depending on the situation, harassment of LGBTQ+ students may be actionable as sex discrimination (Visit, e.g., Ray v. Antioch Unified School District, 107 F. Supp. 2d 1165 (N.D. Cal. 2000) (stating that attacks based on a student’s perceived sexuality constitute sex discrimination)). Harassment of transgender students in particular is actionable. Several federal courts have held that the federal anti-discrimination law, Title IX, prohibits discrimination based on gender identity (Visit, e.g., Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District No. 1 Bd. of Educ., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 9362 (7^yèm Cir. 2017); cf. Bd. of Educ. v. U.S. Dep’t of Educ., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131474 (S.D. Ohio 2016)).

Ou ka pote plent bay kowòdinatè Tit IX lekòl ou a, epitou bay:

Biwo Dwa Sivil yo
Depatman Edikasyon Etazini an
Biwo Lapòs ak Tribinal John W. McCormack, Sal 222
Plas Biwo Lapòs la
Boston, MA 02109

Anplis de sa, gen kèk kalite diskriminasyon ak arasman ki ka vyole dwa konstitisyonèl yon elèv.

There are many ways to approach the issue. One is to ask for support from a friend, teacher or counselor, and talk to the people who are bothering you. That is not an option, however, if you don’t feel safe doing so.

Take a look at your school’s policies and notify whoever is supposed to be notified – usually a vice principal or Title IX coordinator. You may wish to document any incidents of harassment or discrimination in writing. Once you meet with the right officials, make a note of what you told them and on what date and ask when they will be getting back to you with a response. If they don’t help you or don’t follow through, you may wish to write to the superintendent and school board and ask them to end the discrimination.

At the same time, or after contacting the administration as set out above, you may want to send a copy of your complaint to the State Dept. of Education. While they do not have an explicit policy on complaints and they have no obligations under the non-discrimination law, you could request that they intervene on your behalf. Contact Office of Public Information, Conn. State Dept. of Education, 165 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT  06145. Their phone number is (860) 566-5677 and their website is http://www.state.ct.us/sde/

If the above methods fail to stop the discrimination, you may also wish to consider taking legal action. Contact Repons GLAD for attorney referrals.

Yes, in 2017 Connecticut passed Public Act 17-5, An Act Concerning the Protection of Youth from Conversion Therapy.

State and national medical, mental health, and child welfare organizations all oppose the practice of conversion therapy, a practice which seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Extensive professional literature shows the practice to be both ineffective in changing sexual orientation or gender identity and harmful to youth. Young people who have been subjected to conversion therapy are at increased risk of depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, and illegal drug use.

Under the law’s provisions, any licensed health professional who practices conversion therapy would be subject to discipline by the Department of Public Health up to and including the loss of their professional license.