A candidate for the U.S. Senate has come under fire for criticizing the Student Non-Discrimination Act, legislation meant to protect children, becuase she said it “criminalizes” teasing.
Heather Wilson, who formerly represented New Mexico’s first Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives and is now running for the U.S. Senate, said that SNDA “is so broad that it would actually punish children, or say it’s prohibited to express an opinion with respect to homosexuality in schools.”
Heather Wilson
The Human Rights Campaign – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization – called Wilson’s remarks “shockingly ignorant” and said they reflect how unaware she is of the realities kids face in school on a daily basis.
“Bullying and harassment of kids who are LGBT, or who are perceived to be LGBT, is a serious problem. Our lawmakers have a moral obligation to protect children.” said HRC President Joe Solmonese.
“Heather Wilson should be sending a message that verbal and physical abuse is never acceptable behavior. Instead, she’s saying harassment based on someone’s real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity is a normal way for bullies to express their opinion.”
Wilson has a staunchly anti-LGBT track record, according to the HRC. She has voted against workplace protections for LGBT employees and supports a federal marriage amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.
“Heather Wilson isn’t just disagreeing with SNDA from a policy perspective, she is devaluing the everyday experiences, health, and safety of LGBT youth. Bullying or harassing another human being is never acceptable, regardless of your personal beliefs,” Solmonese added.
Earlier Friday, the White House released a statement indicating President Barack Obama supports both the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA) and the Student Non-Discrimination Act.
The SNDA would prohibit discrimination in public schools based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
Filed under: New Mexico
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that it would, but where do we draw the line? i certainly wouldn’t say that far up but where could we ever draw an effective line to end discrimination and not include a bunch of flim-flam?
GET A CLUE!!!!
Hahahaha, what a dumb turd!
Stupid Heather Wilson.
there’s a big difference between playful teasing like between siblings n out-right bullying which is what this is to deal with
Heather Wilson can lick my vagina!
she was probably a bully in high school.
is she worried her family or she herself might get arrested
doesn’t the language the bill describe the nature of or what would be considered bullying? candidate dumb ass needs to go sit down somewhere not near my government.
you know I always hear, “That’s the parent’s job to teach them to be nice” hmmmm seems to me they ain’t doing it so we gotta pass a law.
heather wilson is an idiot. it only gets better when you homophobic people go away.
thought that criminalizing it was the POINT. “I find it funny by the way that so many people who oppose teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution don’t have a problem with ‘Social Darwinism’ in schools where only the fittest survive.”
she is just one of those females that were taught by a strict religios and political families. hopefully things will get better when my age group comes to were we are presidents . things will get better i hope.
Dumbass twit :(
She probably also thinks that Sexual Harassment policies criminalize “flirting”.
Teasing is Bullying you stupid crunt!. Wake up and smell the BS you are spouting!
what a jackass.
bitch ain’t got the brains of piss ant.
ugh just ugh
I’ve been bullied and i can tell ya its a huge difference from being teased
whata twat!!
Tell that to the parents of the next kid that commits suidcide you stupid piece of human garbage.
Bitch.
Wow, political suicide – BEFORE your elected… lmfao
This is the same old attitude as kids will be kids that lasted generations of abuse.
Heather Wilson is in bed with K. Rove, D. Cheney, and the Koch Bros. She’s got their money all over her and shes taking lessons. here in New Mexico she’s running against Eric Griego, who has been tagged as one of the top 5 progressives to watch, hopefully headed to congress. (think Bernie Sanders except younger, Hispanic and with more hair) LOL
opps, got my NM candidates confused. Heather Wilson is running against Martin Heinrich-a dem/progressive who has a good record for LGBTQ rights- again sorry for misinformation. (time to say good night)
Hatred coming from any source is unproductive and does not make the world a better place. I have said nasty things about Heather Wilson in the past. My first inclination is to hit “like” on everyone’s nasty comments, but the truth is that we all have the opportunity to change here… Not just her and people who agree with her, but all of us. Me too. Words hurt. That’s a big point in favor of the SNDA.
Be the change you wish to see in this world. ~Ghandi
And why shouldn’t teasing children be considered a criminal act?!!!
She must have been a bully in a past life…damn the karmic tendency manifested again…oh well, shit happens…
Teasing is just as bad as discrimination as majority of the time it leads to violent acts that ultimately leave a child to end their life. I am sorry but if it saves one life I am all for it in light of the fact that she is against it the thing that matters is saving lives.
teasing is a derogatory action towards another – plain an simple – it is not a sport or young people trying to find themselves – it is a lack of empathy towards your fellow humankind; and depending on the type of teasing it can leave a everlasting impression on the individual…but, most importantly while a law might help…it is not a cure…the cure is not to glorify or elevate horrific and brutal actions society-wide…it would take years to undo social brainwashing – as an example ” blacks and whites being allowed to marry” it has taken years to bring a level of acceptance and still has years to go before it is not even thought of as unusual/forbidden…so Heather Wilson you are obvious so monumentally naive on the nature of humankind…please – just drop out…
and that’s bad??
Her time of hate and intolerance in Politics needs to come to an end – Vote For Her Opponent !