Michele Bachmann, Republican
presidential candidate, is not talking about the bullying of gay
teens in her district.
On Friday, CBS
News reported that Minnesota resident Alex Limon asked the
Minnesota Congresswoman what she intends to do about the bullying.
“That's not a federal issue,”
Bachmann answered at a rally in Costa Mesa, California.
Over the past two years, nine teens in
the Anoka-Hennepin school district have committed suicide, including
15-year-old Justin Aaberg, who hanged himself last July after
suffering years of anti-gay harassment.
The Anoka-Hennepin school district,
which is located in Bachmann's congressional district, has been been
criticized for its “neutrality policy” on issues of sexual
orientation and gender identity. The policy, critics say, foments a
hostile environment for gay youth or teens perceived to be gay.
On Thursday, Tammy Aaberg, Justin
Aaberg's mother, met with Bachmann staffers to discuss the issue.
Tammy and five others delivered a petition signed by more than
130,000 people from around the country urging the congresswoman to
denounce anti-gay bullying in her district.
(Related: Michele
Bachmann doesn't deny her clinic attempts to 'cure' gay people.)