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Gillespie explains vote against bullying bill

Controversial bill could lead to gay marriage, legislator says

By Britt Combs | The McDowell News

Published: June 25, 2009

On Tuesday the state legislature passed its controversial anti-bullying bill by a one-vote margin in its final vote in the House. The bill now goes to Gov. Bev Perdue's desk. Observers in Raleigh expect her to sign it, according to the Associated Press.

The bill is controversial due to its specific mention of sexual orientation as a characteristic that is likely to make a child the target of bullies. That caused it to face fierce opposition by conservatives, including Rep. Mitch Gillespie, R-McDowell.

If signed into law, the bill would require schools, by the end of the year, to create policies that list perceived characteristics of a person likely to be bullied, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

Supporters have said identifying the differences that could lead to bullying will ensure that students are protected by teachers and administrators who may not agree with certain lifestyles or have some prejudices.

It was sponsored by Sen. Julia Boseman, D-New Hanover, the state's only openly gay legislator.

"We did the right thing to protect all the children of North Carolina," she stated.

But Gillespie said an alternative bill he co-sponsored, would have criminalized any bullying of anyone in public schools. That bill died in committee.

McDowell Associate Superintendent Mike Murray has been spearheading an effort to update and revise the system's policies for the better part of the past year. He said he was aware of the development and was waiting for guidance from the state on compliance.

"We will be relying totally on the school board association, and their attorneys, to help create the modifications needed to stay within the legal limits and give us as much flexibility as possible," he said.

"We have always been concerned about bullying," added Murray, "because it truly occurs in every school system and should never be underestimated."

But, whatever positive outcome the bill may have in addressing physical and emotional intimidation and harassment in schools, Gillespie said the wording of the bill would have consequences far outreaching the issue of school bullying.

"(The bill's advocates) have said it had nothing to do with the homosexual community or a gay rights agenda," he said, "but when you have every gay rights group in the state making it their No. 1 agenda item, and the House gallery was full of activists hugging and crying and kissing when it passed, what does that tell you?

"For the first time in N.C. history," Gillespie added, "we have recognized homosexuals as a specific class of persons in our general statutes." That recognition, he said, could lead to court challenges of the state's definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.

That is what has happened in Iowa, he said, where just this April that state's Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Iowa's ban on same-sex marriage.

"The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification," the ruling stated.

Gillespie said any number of characteristics would attract the attention of bullies, and it would be impossible to list them all. By specifying sexual orientation in the bill, the law would create a special class for gays and lesbians.

Ultimately, he said, gay activists would use this newly established legal recognition in state statutes as grounds on which to challenge the state's definition of marriage.

Conservatives in the House fought the measure till the end, he said. But when it looked like it might fail Tuesday, House leadership, under Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Chatham, brought political pressure to bear on three members to abstain from casting their expected no-votes.

He listed Ray Warren, D-Catawba, William Brisson, D-Cumberland and Ronnie Sutton, D-Robeson as having yielded to pressure to abstain from the vote.

"Warren met with a delegation of preachers from Alexander County for hours before that vote," said Gillespie. "And he promised them that he would vote against it."

But when the time came, he concluded, Warren asked to be excused. So did Brisson, he added, and Sutton was present, but did not vote.

Sutton has said he was not on the floor for the vote, according to the AP.

What kind of pressure, exactly, was used? Gillespie said he couldn't say for sure, but when House leaders want a member of their party to abstain, they can be threatened with financial consequences for their constituents.

"When (a former governor) wanted me to vote for a tax increase," Gillespie stated, "I was told they would shut down Lake James Park if I didn't cooperate, I said 'Shut it down.' That's all you can do, you either stand up to them or you let them run all over you."