Updated, 11:00pm

Partial Transcript of Debate | EqualityNC’s Debate Summary

Click Here to see partial transcript and audio of final vote on the bill from Thursday, May 24, 2007.

*** Click here to listen to audio of debate on School Violence Prevention Act. Hearing & debate of H 1366, the School Violence Prevention Act starts at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the approximately 50 minute clip. ***

For almost an hour on Wednesday evening, members of the North Carolina House of Representatives debated the School Violence Prevention Act, a bill which would prohibit bullying and provide further guidelines and regulations, including placing sexual orientation and gender-identity & expression in a list of those reasons why students are most vulnerable.

The House went into session at 1:45pm on Wednesday and sped through many bills described as “non-controversial items” by Speaker Joe Hackney. The House did not hear bills in the order they appeared on the calendar (view here (PDF)).

Click here for information on the School Violence Prevention Act. Text of the bill here.

Sponsors of the School Violence Prevention Act (text) include:

Primary: Glazier; Fisher; Justice; Stiller; Co-Sponsors: Alexander; Allen; Bell; Blue; Bordsen; Bryant; Carney; Coates; Coleman; Cotham; Cunningham; Dickson; Earle; England; Farmer-Butterfield; Goforth; Goodwin; Grady; Hall; T. Harrell; Harrison; Howard; Insko; Jeffus; Johnson; Jones; Lucas; Luebke; Martin; Michaux; Mobley; Parmon; Pierce; Rapp; Ross; Tarleton; Underhill; Wainwright; Weiss; Wilkins; Womble; Wray; Wright; Yongue

The following is a re-cap of the day…

3:55pm: The House is speeding through “non-controversial items” as directed by Speaker Hackney. They will come back to those considered “controversial,” including the School Violence Protection Act as well as others like one banning corporeal punishment in NC schools, one establishing Juneteenth National Freedom Day as a state holiday and the “NC Racial Justice Act,” whose first section states, “No person shall be subject to or given a sentence of death, or shall be executed pursuant to any judgment that was sought or obtained on the basis of race.” I’ll try to record not only the School Violence Prevention Act but also the other bills dealing with civil and human rights in regard to children’s rights and the rights of minorities.

4:25pm: The House is currently hearing the Juneteenth bill. The bill would recognize the day on a state level. It does not create a state holiday with time off for state employees. Second reading: 114 in affirmative (unanimously) and passed on voice vote on third reading. It was sent to the Senate. There was no debate.

5:25pm: The House has finally gotten through the majority of their “non-controversial items” and returned to those with more debate. They are currently hearing a bill regarding insurance rates that was passed out of committee only after the chairman had to break a dead tie. Lots of debate. Almost got heated for a second. People were yelling for a moment there. Just an average day in the business of politics, I guess.

6:00pm: The House is currently preparing to take a two-hour recess for dinner and other business. They will re-convene at 8:00pm.

8:10pm: The House has re-convened after their dinner recess. They are heading into some of their more “controversial” bills. They started off about to go on HB 853, a bill to prohibit corporeal punishment but instead heard HB 1328, a bill requiring a registered sex offender to disclose that status when requesting custody of a child. HB 1328 passed both its second and third readings and was sent to the Senate.

8:15pm: The House is now hearing the School Violence Prevention Act.

Primary Sponsor Rick Glazier is speaking on the bill. The merits of this bill, says Glazier, is simply to protect students and that “enumeration is required because all of us get concerned, tense up, when we talk about kids who are different. We may be mature enough to handle that but [youth] are not… It is a bill designed to make sure all children are safe when they go to school. We know that every bit of data in the state and nationwide that there are certain children which are much more likely to be attacked and bullied. There is I think another world out there. I think in the end, we have a responsibility to every child regardless of whether they are unique by creation or exceptional by designation. In the end when we protect every child from harm we protect all of our children and all of our grandchildren. This bill is an important step in ensuring school safety.”

Rep. Stam: Offered an amendment to page 2 lines 5-10 by deleting those lines. Stam said: “I made this same speech, this’ll be the third time [since committees]. I would like to be able to support the bill and if this amendment passes I can and if it doesn’t I can’t. The bill says on the end thereof, nothing in this act shall be ‘construed to create any classification or preference beyond those existing in present statute or case law.’ I’m trying to make the promise of that statement correct. For one thing, this bill would be present statute. There is a classification in the bill… There are first class victims and 2nd class victims and we should protect all victims. The language I would like to delete reads: “Bullying or harassing behavior includes, but is not limited to, acts reasonably perceived as being motivated by any actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, or sensory disability, or by association with a person who has or is perceived to have one or more of these characteristics.” My amendment allows the bill to go forward without the creation of 1st and 2nd class victims. It is interesting that the State Board of Education adopted a policy requiring anti-bullying policies and they specifically included provisions not to include enumerated lists. But here proponents of this bill think they know better. If you can’t fit yourself into one of those classfications then you are an ‘other.’”

Glazier responded: “I think there are some very major reasons why the amendment should be defeated. Rep. Stam pioints to the fact that the bill states specifically that the categories are only part of the bill. We know from the data from this state and nation that there are some kids more vulnerable than others. We know that from political pressure or ideological pressure that those are the kids who are not fully protected by districts or schools.”

Rep. Glazier then proceeded to tell the story of students who had been victims of extreme bullying, including one instance of anti-gay bullying.

“We don’t have the option or the choice to discount those any more,” Glazier said, “Every child in every school is precious and we cannot abdicate our responsibility because we are afraid of a word or phrase.”

Glazier also told a short story of an intern from NC State University who was dealing with the issue of the LGBT Center at NC State working for Representative Leubke and how that student said, “I can’t walk a mile in their shoes, but I can make that mile walk a bit easier.”

Rep. Blust, Guilford: “All that you’ve read, the examples you talk about, if the Stam Amendment passes, wouldn’t the bill apply just as strongly to every example you just gave if that same thing occurs in North Carolina?”

Glazier responded: “If we had that in place without the list? That is what we have had and it hasn’t stopped these issues.”

Blust: “Perhaps I’m reading the bill wrong. It seems like in your answer you said without the listthe bill is nothing. The bill would still fully apply to every student on the list whether the amendment passes or not. What does the list add to the bill?”

Glazier: “In those states with a bullying bill with enumerated categories, they have seen a reduction in harassment. Those that don’t have it, a reduction doesn’t occur.”

Blust: “You said just a little ago that the bull wouldn’t be worth having without a list. If I’m a student and I’m not any category on the list, am I not protected by this bill with the list? Aren’t we creating two different classes of victims?”

Glazier: “No, all we are doing is creating an understanding that there are some children that are far more likely to be victims than others.”

Allred: “The definition of bullying needs to be defined or alluded to or addressed somewhere in the bill. You need this language in the bill. My neighbor told me, ‘My son is a little kid and he goes to school and he’s getting bullied. The teachers aren’t doing anything about it. Is there anything I can do?’ I told him ‘It is the school’s responsibility to protect your child under the Safe Schools Act. The school principal and administrators have a responsibility to protect every student but it doesn’t happen every time.’ In order to be brief, Mr. Speaker… I’m gonna vote for this bill because, well let me tell you: We have had some bullies in this chamber and I’m glad they are gone and you know who I mean. If you don’t I’ll tell you. I cannot stand bullying. I will not be bullied. There is no reason on God’s earth for anyone for bullying to be allowed for any reason whatsoever. Any reason! I believe that the reason 32 students diesd at Virginia Tech was because Cho was bullied and made fun of. I’m no psychiatrist but that is what I beleive. He did what he did because he was bullied and we need this bill to be passed just the way it is.”

Parmon: I stand to oppose this amendment. You think I would normally just do this. I am oppossing this amendment because the bill must carry strong language that we must provide a safe environment for all our children. I have years of experience as an administrator in public education. I can tell you that because of our own biases I had to discipline teachers because homosexual children were being bullied and teachers didn’t speak up and when I asked one teacher why she did nothing, the teacher said she thought it would help make a man out of them. We must be specific and send a strong message to those with these biases. I don’t support protecting a gay lifestyle but this bill isn’t about that. It is about protecting our children and telling the adults we hold responsible for their protection that these children are vulnerable. We must send a strong message. We must have a safe environment. We must be specific about it. I ask you to oppose this amendment [to strip out the enumerated categories].”

Rep. Owens called previous question.
Vote on question: 70 in the affirmative, 45 in the Negative; Call to question passes.

Vote on Stam Amendment: 58 in the Affirmative, 58 in the Negative; Speaker Hackney, Chair votes No to break tie. Stam Amendment fails.

Stam: “I’d like to exhibit the consequences of passing the bill unamended. Gender is first of all the incorrect word. They mean sex. Gender is a grammatical term. It has only been in recent decades that gender has become a euphemism of sex. This relates back to a Marxist theory that things are socially constructed not biologically. Then they have gender-identity, what does that mean? Under this bill, if a 7 year old comes in dressed the wrong gender, that means they are protected. Then you have sexual orientation. What does that mean, behavior, how you look at someone? They never will answer that question. Then the next line says ‘is perceived to have one or more of these characteristics.’ The effect of this bill is to create a nightmare.”

Fisher: “First of all i want to applaud Representative Glazier for bringing this bill. I felt it necessary that I stand and ask you, urge you to vote in support of this legislation. If we are to stand by what we say in terms of preventing the drop out rate, or wanting to keep schools safe. If we know and believe that schools need to be safe then we need to stand by what we say. Teachers want clear guidelines. Students want to feel safe.”

Dollar: “On Sept. 29 1998, Jared High a 13 year old in Washington state called his father on the phone and told him goodbye and picked up a revolver and killed himself. He did it because he had been incessantly bullied. His mother started a crusade. There are 32 states that have passed statewide anti-bullying laws. But in their model legislation they specifically have, they say in there specifically that there should not be any attention given to specific categories. Bullying is the root of the problem not any attribute of the victim.”

Rep. Grady, Onslow County: “First of all I disagree with the idea that you choose to be a victim. I voted for the amendment and the reason I voted against the amendment was because I knew of a child who was thought to be gay. [He wasn't gay, but he was a victim of that biased harassment.] He wouldn’t want to say that he needs protection for being gay, becuase he isn’t. I’m gonna vote for this bill.”

Lucas: “Ladies and gentlemen I’ve had a few years of experience in public education , I would submit to you that as public officials it is our duty to give dignity and respect to every child under our jurisdiction. Regardless of our perceptions or what that child may be or our stereotpyes of them.”

Stiller: “I said this in the Education Committee. I think this is a shame we have to take this up. We have a public education system. They should have handled this for us. There should not be any bullying at all. This puts us in a position we don’t appreciate. One of the problems with the bill is making a list. It is detrimental, especially in our courts and in litigation. One of the things left off is economic status.”

Kiser: “I taught high school from 1954 to 1972 and I handled discipline for five years there. I can tell you why we have bullying taking place it is because we simply don’t have any discipline. The reason we don’t have discipline anymore is because people want to take it out of schools. We didn’t need anyone to tell us bullying was wrong. I don’t know… you tell me. What you going to do with these people. I don’t know if this is going to do any good.”

Gray: “Having voted on the prevailing side of the amendment, I move to have the Amendment reconsidered.”
53 in the Affirmative, 63 in the Negative, Reconsideration of the amendment fails.

Representative Owens called the previous question.
72 in the Affirmative, 45 in the Negative; Question Called

Passage of Committee Substitue 2, House Bill 1366 2nd Reading:
72 in the Affirmative, 45 in the Negative; 2nd reading passes

Objection to third reading.

House Bill 1366, School Violence Prevention Act remains on the calendar. Final vote on calendar for Thursday, May 24, 2007; House convening at 11:30am.

Hearing on H 1366 ends, Approximately: 8:55pm

Technical/Parliamentary definitions:

1. A bill must be passed three times: A first reading upon submittal, a second reading after House floor debate and a third reading after that. A third reading can be objected to and pushed to the next day’s business. H 1366’s third reading was objected to by Representive Stam and others.

2. “Call the previous question.” “Call the Question.” To call the previous question is to ask for a vote to end debate. If the Call to previous question passes, debate on the current motion ends and a vote is held.

3. “Affirmative.” Voting in favor. “In the Negative.” Voting against.

Click here to listen to audio of debate on School Violence Prevention Act. Hearing & debate of H 1366, the School Violence Prevention Act starts at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the approximately 50 minute clip.

Other bills relating to human rights heard by the NC House included H 1291, the NC Racial Justice Act. The bill would have required that “No person shall be subject to or given a sentence of death, or shall be executed pursuant to any judgment that was sought or obtained on the basis of race.” It passed 62-54 in its second reading and its third reading was objected to. A bill to prohibit corporeal punishment of children in state-operated facilities, including public schools, was also debated. I’m sorry that I was unable to provide any audio recordings of those debates.

From EqualityNC’s Ian Palmquist:

I’ll fill you in on what happened today below, but right now I need you to take action to ensure our anti-bullying bill passes its final vote Thursday afternoon. Click here to contact the representatives now, even if you’ve contacted them before on this issue. The far right is already generating hundreds of emails against this bill.

Here’s what happened tonight. The House is still in session as I write, but took up House Bill 1366, the School Violence Prevention Act, right after they returned from their dinner break at 8:00.

Immediately after Rep. Rick Glazier, the bill’s main sponsor, presented the bill, Minority Leader Rep. Paul Stam proposed an amendment to strip out the protected categories, including sexual orientation and gender identity, from the bill.

After a debate that was at times moving, at times offensive, and at times just strange, the vote on the amendment was called. The result was a 58-58 tie, to which the Speaker added his no vote, defeating the amendment.

After still more passionate debate and a failed attempt to reconsider the amendment, the bill finally passed its “second reading” 72-45, the first of two required votes to send the bill to the Senate. This is the first time in state history a major piece of pro-equality legislation has passed a vote in either chamber, but we’re not done yet.

The House’s final vote will be tomorrow, just in time to meet a critical legislative deadline. We’ll be working hard with our coalition partners to head off any mischief Rep. Stam and his cronies may attempt.

In order to win this final vote and fend off any more amendments, I need you to take action right now.

Together, we can get this bill over this hurdle and to the Senate.

For Equality,

Ian

P.S. Don’t forget to take action now! Here’s the link: http://eqfed.org/campaign/h1366_5/w83b7xw413xmwxn?