Michigan Senate Minority Leader
Gretchen Whitmer has slammed the recent Senate passage of an
anti-bullying bill that excludes gays.
The bill cleared the Republican
controlled Senate on Wednesday.
The anti-bullying bill neglects to
protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens and encourages
the bullying of gay students by creating exceptions based on
religious or moral convictions.
“So this might solve a political
problem that Republicans have,” Whitmer said on the Senate floor.
“But be clear: You are papering over the problem that is a reality
faced by hundreds of kids in Michigan schools every day. In fact,
not only does this not protect kids who are bullied, it further
endangers them by legitimizing excuses for tormenting a student. And
the saddest and sickest irony of this whole thing is that it's called
'Matt's Safe School Law.' And after the way that you've gutted it,
it wouldn't have done a damn thing to save Matt.”
“This is worse than doing nothing.
It's a Republican license to bully,” she added. (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page.)