Henin proposes anti-gay discrimination bill

Schools will not be able to discriminate against gay pupils if a bill proposed by MK Dov Henin (Hadash) passes.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Dov Henin 370 (photo credit: Courtesy Twitter)
Dov Henin 370
(photo credit: Courtesy Twitter)
Schools will not be able to discriminate against gay pupils if a bill proposed by MK Dov Henin (Hadash) passes.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation will vote on the legislation tomorrow. It is cosponsored by several Yesh Atid MKs including faction chairman Ofer Shelah, as well as MK Orly Levy-Abecasis (Yesh Atid) and Labor and Meretz MKs.
The bill adds to the list of prohibited types of discrimination in the existing Students’ Rights Law the words “sexual preference, identity and gender.” The Israeli National LGBT Task Force called for the government to approve the bill, saying it protects pupils from bullying.
“Because of their sexual preferences, LGBT pupils are often a target for bullying and humiliation by students and even by faculty,” task force spokesman Gil Kol said, mentioning an example of a girl that was not permitted to hang up a drawing encouraging equality for gays and was ridiculed by her classmates.
“This bill will prevent similar incidents – and even worse ones of physical violence – and will anchor LGBT students’ rights and require educational institutions to treat them equally,” Kol added.