The House voted 60 to 56 not to concur with the Senate bullying bill. What this means is that the House bill, which includes language that provides special protection to homosexuals, will go to conference committee. By the reaction of the homosexual/ACLU lobby, it is very likely that the conference committee will preserve language that (for the first time in North Carolina law) recognizes sexual orientation as a protected class.
Supporters of the legislation, led by Rick Glazier (why is no one running against this guy?), framed the argument in favor of the House bill as providing protection for “all God’s children.” Among Republicans, Rep. Cary Allred was a vocal supporter of the House bill.
Opponents of the bill, led by Rep. Skip Stam, instead called upon the House to pass the Senate bill, which would have provided protection to all children, irrespective of their membership in a protected class. As Rep. Nelson Dollar argued, the House bill is divisive because it divides kids up into different groups. Dollar also noted that one of the country’s leading experts on bullying, Brenda High, opposes bullying legislation that specifies protected classes.
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