Schools in Bachmann’s District to Pay Students $750K for Illegal Anti-Gay Policy

Posted by Kevin Farrell on Mar 6, 2012 in News | 12 comments

Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District, the largest in the state, has agreed to pay more than $750,000 to settle a pair of lawsuits filed on behalf of students who were discriminated against by the district’s illegal anti-gay policy, named the “No Homo Promo” internally.

No Homo Promo, which banned teachers from mentioning homosexuality’s existence in anything other than a negative light, led to no less than six suicides within the district in just two years, the highest number in the nation.

Anoka-Hennepin, now infamous for abuses against LGBT children, makes up a large piece of Michele Bachmann’s congressional district. Administrators sharing Bachmann’s ideology of bigotry toward LGBT children is noteworthy of course as the U.S. Department of Justice has labeled the school’s actions illegal.

A protracted legal battle was widely expected to end in a loss for the school district, and years of legal fees would have cost the county millions. The payout of $750K to the plaintiffs is considered a bargain by most.

But in a bizarre twist of insanity, the lone member of the school board to vote against the settlement, released a statement accusing those who stood up against the schools’ institutionalized bullying of being the real bullies here. “Like a target of bullying, I choose to leave this situation, by resigning, instead of fighting back against the out-of-state bullies.”

Let’s hope this massive disciplinary action against Anoka-Hennepin means things will get better for the remaining 39,000 students in the care of these anti-gay maniacs.

Fingers crossed.

Now that the school district is being forced to pay for its mistakes, do you think things will improve for LGBT students?

http://www.facebook.com/people/Heather-DeFabis/100000396101693 Heather DeFabis

Improve in what way? Haters are still gonna hate. The bullied with no way out are still going to take their lives.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=592796245 Trenton Flock

Sadly, I don’t expect it will get better for current students. Adult homophobes will ratchet up their bigotry in quieter ways while churning up militancy among fundamentalists who claim this is anti-Christian oppression. And the kids of these bigots will still isolate and resent gay people until they (MAYBE) learn to think for themselves. But without state sanctioned bigotry, the next generation has a slightly cheerier future. I want it to improve now, but that’s just not the reality. Still, this is very good news. Three cheers for those who fought this battle!
http://www.facebook.com/LordArtemis Michael Artemis Harris

I doubt this is make things better. The school district is going to have to pay these fines which will in-turn mean that things will get stricter in the school, programs will be cut and funding will go away for certain projects and the kids who will now be missing out will just blame the gay students because that’s the easiest road to go. This will in-turn just make things worse for these students. =[

Anonymous

Didn’t read the whole item do you?
“The district recently (two weeks ago) revealed that they had a one time $11 million surplus.” and “The money for the damages will be covered by the district’s insurance policy.”Doesn’t look like too much will be “cut” or that “funding will go away” either.

http://www.facebook.com/LordArtemis Michael Artemis Harris

Hmm… I didn’t see that in the blog post. But I am sure it will probably still happen anyway. I mean, if the school really wanted to turn the students against others that would be the best way to do it, and do it legally.

Cali D

Did something need to be done? Absolutely.

Is this the ideal situation? Absolutely not.

In my opinion, I would have rather seen the **individuals** responsible for putting these policies in place be forced to pay (as opposed to the District as an institution). As others have mentioned previously, the loss to the school can be potentially devastating and likely won’t have a huge effect on the atmosphere of the district. If the individuals responsible were forced to bear the punitive damages personally (even if they were considerably lower), I think it would have done a lot more and sent a much stronger message to those who would work against equality and an open atmosphere that is so integral to education and the success of all minority and marginalized students.
Anonymous

A couple of notes: the students were paid $270,000 and the additional $500,000 will go toward staffing that will support mental health work and a focus on equity issues. The district recently (two weeks ago) revealed that they had a one time $11 million surplus. Even if we hadn’t had a suit, using some of that surplus for those staffing costs would have made a lot of sense in light of what is good for students. The money for the damages will be covered by the district’s insurance policy. Frankly, the students did the district a huge favor by working with the Departments of Justice and Education and being willing to settle for relatively modest amounts. It’s also helpful to know that Anoka-Hennepin is Minnesota’s largest school district and has an annual budget of over $400 million dollars.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1664732393 Jim Self

Thank you for the very interesting facts involving this district. I just wonder why they settled for 750,000.?

http://www.facebook.com/people/Erica-Cook/100000628613592 Erica Cook

A true target of bullying fights back. Just look at the brave young men and women in our schools making the difference they are. He’s a winning little brat, and just like a real bully is crying fowl when someone stands up to him.
Anonymous

This is going to change nothing. The ones that find gays and lesbians disgusting are going to cry foul. The voices of reason are going to be drowned out. We absolutely need equal rights for all throughout our country. Until that happens, we will watch our children die because they see no other way to stop the pain and humiliation that comes with being bullied.
http://www.facebook.com/darkdragonweaver Dale Mulkey

they should have kept it up till the school system was totally broken and the republicans had to explain why they were to stupid to deal with it
http://www.facebook.com/people/Virgo-Elizabeth-LaVierge/1181809716 Virgo Elizabeth LaVierge

They not only deserve money, but ALL TEH GODDAMN MONEY!!!

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