Heather Wilson, a New Mexico Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate told supporters that a proposed anti-bullying bill is unconstitutional because children who haven’t reached puberty don’t know if they’re gay, and added the bill could violate the free-speech rights of bullies, and criminalize the act of teasing — which, she suggested, all kids do. Wilson was speaking about U.S. Senator Al Franken’s anti-bullying bill, the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity protections to federal civil rights laws for students in public schools. Wilson, a former U.S. Congresswoman, appeared physically uncomfortable even discussing aspects of anti-gay bullying or homosexuality in general, as evidenced in the video, below.
“It is an act that would criminalize harassment or bullying in schools of children who are gay or who — it criminalizes bullying. It basically makes federal funding dependent on school board policies that will not tolerate bullying of people based on their sexual orientation or, you know, even when kids are below puberty,” Wilson wrongly told the audience. Amazingly, also, Wilson is under the false impression that children who have not reached puberty are not able to determine if they are LGBT.
“I mean if somebody gets bullied for having, gosh a low voice — that’s never happened to me,” Wilson continued. “But I think one of the things why I don’t support the act is because I think it’s misplaced. They are things I’m willing to tolerate that I’m not willing to approve.”
Clearly, Wilson is stating she is willing to “tolerate” homosexuality, but is not willing to “approve” of it — nor is she willing to approve of legislation that would help protect LGBT students, who are exponentially more likely to attempt suicide, to be kicked out of their homes, and to experience bullying than their heterosexual peers — thanks in no small part to the environment anti-LGBT lawmakers and religious leaders create. In other words, Heather Wilson seems to think that LGBT students actually deserve the bullying they get.
“With respect to this particular agenda we have to recognize as parents that children tease each other because you’re short or you’re tall or you’re a redhead or because you’re ugly or because you’re smart or because you’re dumb or all kinds of differences and as parents we have to deal with that and strengthen our children to be comfortable with themselves and also to show empathy and acceptance towards others, but that particular act is so broad it would actually punish children and say that it’s prohibited to express an opinion with respect to homosexuality in the schools. I just think that’s wrong and it’s a violation of the First Amendment.”
Heather Wilson, a Rhodes Scholar, is surprisingly uninformed on a matter this simple.
Amanda Terkel at The Huffington Post this afternoon offered an excellent analysis of Wilson’s speech:
Wilson’s characterization of SB 555 is inaccurate in several ways. First of all, it would not “criminalize” teasing.
“If you create a crime [in a law], you need to put words in the law like ‘sentencing’ or ‘imprisoned,'” explained a Senate staffer who declined to be named to speak openly. “[The law] is just not creating any crimes. That’s just incorrect.”
It’s also not banning teasing between students. It prohibits discrimination by public schools, and it makes sure a school responds to cases of pervasive harassment that interfere with a child’s education.
SB 555 is modeled on existing civil rights laws — such as Title VI and Title IX — that already prohibit discrimination based on certain classifications. This legislation would simply extend those protections to discrimination that occurs based on sexual orientation and gender identity, so it seems unlikely that Franken’s bill would count as unconstitutional and violate the First Amendment. In fact, to safeguard against such a charge, Section 9(b) of SB 555 says, “Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter legal standards regarding, or affect the rights available to individuals or groups under…the First Amendment.”
Unsurprisingly, Wilson’s behavior when she was a U.S. Congresswoman also showed her lack of understand and concern for LGBT citizens.
“On February 27, 2005, Maestas and companion Joshua Stockham were beaten by six young men who screamed anti-gay epithets at them. The attackers followed Maestas and friends from the restaurant where the encounter began. The six young men who attacked Maestas and Stockham were the first prosecuted under New Mexico’s new hate crimes law,” the LGBT Hate Crimes Project reported.
Unconscious, Maestas was taken to St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe. Maestas suffered a broken nose and a concussion. He was kicked so hard that the food in his stomach came up into his throat, and stomach acid burned his lungs. He had also aspirated his own blood, and required the help of a respirator to breath.
On March 5, 300 people gathered at a vigil in support of Maestas. The vigil was attended by Police Chief Beverly Lennen and Governor Bill Richardson. During his remarks Richardson said, “What happened to James Maestas should never happen anywhere, on any planet. We as a society have got to find ways to end hatred.â€
Wilson was one  of the few elected officials who not only did not attend the vigil, but did not make any public comments, nor does she support hate crimes legislation.
Unsurprisingly, in 2006, both the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) gave Wilson a 0% rating.
Perhaps Heather Wilson should sit down with the mother of Kenneth Weishuhn, Jr., the 14-year old who died by suicide this weekend because he was bullied by classmates and received death threats on his cell phone and social media sites.
Â
Hat tip: American Bridge