Youth | Schools | Vermont

All Vermont public school students have the right:

• 為了在學校安全而不被欺負，
• 要存取有關 LGBTQ+ 主題的資訊（包括教育網站），
• 穿著和表現方式要符合你的性別認同，
• 言論自由。這意味著你有權表達可能冒犯他人的觀點，也有權反對他人的觀點，只要你以尊重他人的方式表達即可。

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,
• 組成一個同性戀/異性戀聯盟 (GSA)，享受與其他非課程團體同等的待遇。這意味著平等的資金、設施使用權以及選擇團體名稱的權利。

在校外，您有權利：

• 在就業、住房和公共場所（如餐廳或商店）中免受基於您的實際或感知的性取向、愛滋病毒狀況或性別認同的歧視。
• 未經父母同意，自行接受 HIV 檢測。更多詳情，請參閱“HIV/AIDS”專題。
• 向警方舉報在校內或校外對您造成人身傷害、威脅您或破壞您的財產的任何人。

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., 雷訴安提阿聯合學區案，107 F. Supp. 2d 1165 (ND Cal. 2000)（指出基於學生性傾向的攻擊構成性別歧視）。尤其對跨性別學生的騷擾可提起訴訟。一些聯邦法院裁定，聯邦反歧視法第九條禁止基於性別認同的歧視（See, e.g., 惠特克訴基諾沙聯合學區第一教育委員會， 2017 年美國申請 LEXIS 9362 (7^日 巡迴法院，2017 年）； 參見 教育委員會訴美國教育部，2016 美國地區 LEXIS 131474（SD 俄亥俄州 2016））。

您可以向學校的 Title IX 協調員投訴，也可以向以下機構投訴：

民權辦公室
美國教育部
約翰·W·麥科馬克郵局及法院，222 室
郵局廣場
波士頓，馬薩諸塞州 02109

此外，某些類型的歧視和騷擾可能會侵犯學生的憲法權利。

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 公共場所 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.