Youth | Schools | Vermont

All Vermont public school students have the right:

• 为了在学校里安全而不被欺负，
• 要访问有关 LGBTQ+ 主题的信息（包括教育网站），
• 穿着和表现方式要符合你的性别认同，
• 言论自由。这意味着你有权表达可能冒犯他人的观点，也有权反对他人的观点，只要你以尊重他人的方式表达即可。

All Vermont 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,
• 组建一个同性恋/异性恋联盟 (GSA)，享受与其他非课程团体同等的待遇。这意味着平等的资金、设施使用权以及选择团体名称的权利。

在校外，您有权利：

• 在就业、住房和公共场所（如餐馆或商店）中免受基于您的实际或感知的性取向、艾滋病毒状况或性别认同的歧视。
• 未经父母同意，自行接受 HIV 检测。更多详情，请参阅“HIV/AIDS”专题。
• 向警方举报在校内或校外对您造成人身伤害、威胁您或破坏您的财产的任何人。

Visit the U.S. Department of Education’s Resources for LGBTQI+ Students page for more information on what you can do if you experience discrimination

Yes. It is the policy of the state of Vermont that all Vermont educational institutions provide “safe, orderly, civil and positive learning environments.  Harassment, hazing and bullying have no place and will not be tolerated in Vermont schools” (16 V.S.A § 570).

Bullying is defined as an act (including an electronic one) directed against a student by another student or group of students that:

1. is repeated over time;
2. is intended to ridicule, humiliate or intimidate; and
3. occurs during the school day on school property, on a bus or at a school-sponsored activity or before or after the school day on a school bus or at a school-sponsored activity; OR occurs at any other time and can be shown to pose a clear and substantial interference with a student’s right to access educational programs (16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(32)).

Harassment is defined as verbal, written, visual, or physical conduct (including by electronic means) motivated by a student’s or student’s family member’s actual or perceived characteristic such as sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability that is intended to:

1. objectively and substantially undermining and detracting from or interfering with educational performance or access to school resources; or
2. creating an objectively intimidating, hostile or offensive environment (16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(26)(A)).

Hazing is defined as any act against a student who is pledging, being initiated into, affiliating with, holding office in, or maintaining membership in any organization that is affiliated with an educational institution and that is intended to have the effect of (or be reasonably expected to have the effect of) humiliating, intimidating or demeaning the student or endangering the physical or mental health of the student (16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(30)(A)).

All public and approved independent schools must develop, adopt, ensure the enforcement of, and make available to all students, staff, and parents, bullying, harassment and hazing prevention policies that shall be at least as stringent as the model policies developed by the Vermont Department of Education (16 V.S.A. § 570(b)). The model policies can be found at: http://education.vermont.gov/documents/healthy-safe-schools-hhb-model-policy.

All of these policies must include:

1. Annually notifying the students, staff and parents about the policies and procedures;
2. A procedure that directs students, staff and parents to report violations and file complaints;
3. A procedure for investigating reports of violations and complaints;
4. A description of the circumstances under which the violation may be reported to a law enforcement agency;
5. Consequences and appropriate remedial action for those who violate the policy;
6. A description of the training that teachers and other staff will receive in preventing, recognizing and responding to violations; and
7. Designation of two or more people at each school to receive complaints (16 V.S.A. §§ 570a (harassment), 570b (hazing), 570c (bullying)).

Harassment and hazing are also explicitly prohibited at Vermont postsecondary schools, which are required to establish policies and enforcement procedures to address harassment complaints (16 V.S.A. § 178).

Yes. The Vermont Agency of Education has established best practices for schools regarding transgender and gender nonconforming students.[1] These practices are intended to help school and district administrators take steps to create a culture in which transgender and gender nonconforming students feel safe, supported, and fully included and to meet each school’s obligation to provide equal educational opportunities for all students. These practices are intended to help schools ensure a safe learning environment free of discrimination and harassment and to promote the educational and social integration of transgender and gender nonconforming students.

[1] 看 http://education.vermont.gov/sites/aoe/files/documents/edu-best-practices-transgender-and-gnc.pdf.

Possibly. Federal law prohibits sex discrimination in public schools that receive federal funding. Depending on the situation, harassment of LGBT students may be actionable as sex discrimination (See, e.g., 雷诉安提阿联合学区案，107 F. Supp. 2d 1165 (ND Cal. 2000)（指出基于学生性取向的攻击构成性别歧视）。尤其对跨性别学生的骚扰可提起诉讼。一些联邦法院裁定，联邦反歧视法第九条禁止基于性别认同的歧视（See, e.g., 惠特克诉基诺沙联合学区第一教育委员会， 2017 年美国申请 LEXIS 9362 (7^日 巡回法院，2017 年）； 参见 教育委员会诉美国教育部，2016 美国地区 LEXIS 131474（SD 俄亥俄州 2016））。

您可以向学校的 Title IX 协调员投诉，也可以向以下机构投诉：

民权办公室
美国教育部
约翰·W·麦科马克邮局及法院，222 室
邮局广场
波士顿，马萨诸塞州 02109

此外，某些类型的歧视和骚扰可能会侵犯学生的宪法权利。

There are many ways to approach the issue.  One is to ask for support from a friend, teacher or counselor. When harassed, if you feel safe, you may wish to speak to the perpetrators.

In addition, read your school policies and notify whoever is supposed to be notified—usually a vice principal or Title IX coordinator.  You should 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 principal and superintendent and ask for them to end the discrimination.  Keep copies of all documentation for future reference.

At the same time, or after contacting the administration as set out above, you may want to contact the Safe Schools Program of the Vermont Department of Education.  This program is responsible for implementing initiatives related to the equal educational opportunities and anti-harassment provisions discussed above.  You can reach them at:

Vermont Agency of Education
219 Main Street, Suite 402
Barre, VT 05641
(802) 479-1030
aoe.edinfo@vermont.gov

Alternatively, since schools are considered public accommodations in Vermont, you may want to file a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission (see discussion of Public Accommodations above) or other legal action.  Contact GLAD 答案 for assistance and attorney referrals.

Yes, as to high school students; probably, as to middle school students. A federal law known as the “Equal Access Act” requires that all federally funded secondary schools provide equal access to extra-curricular clubs. So long as a school has at least one student-led extra-curricular club, it must allow additional clubs to organize, and must provide them with equal access to meeting spaces, facilities, and funding without discriminating based on a club’s purpose, be that purpose religious, philosophical, political, or otherwise (20 U.S.C. § 4071). GLAD brought and won a case for students at West High in Manchester, New Hampshire on this very basis.

If your school is preventing you from forming a GSA, contact GLAD 答案.