HOUSE
                           Final Reading
                      April 17, 2015First Regular Session
               Seventieth General Assembly
                    STATE OF COLORADO
                                                  ENGROSSED
                                                           
                                                           
 LLS NO. R15-1096.01 Joel Moore x4497            HJR15-1023
                    HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
 Esgar, Ginal, Moreno, Rosenthal
 
                   SENATE SPONSORSHIP
 Ulibarri, Guzman, Steadman
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 House Committees
 Senate Committees
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                  HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 15-1023 
       Concerning supporting the goals and ideals of the National
            Day of Silence by bringing attention to anti-lesbian,
            gay, bisexual, and transgender harassment faced by
            individuals in schools.
       
       
            WHEREAS, The National Day of Silence is a day in which
       students take a vow of silence to bring attention to the anti-lesbian, gay,
       bisexual, and transgender name-calling, bullying, and harassment faced
       by individuals in schools; and
       
            WHEREAS, The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network
       designates the third Friday of every April as the National Day of Silence;
       and
       
            WHEREAS, Hundreds of thousands of students at more than 8,000
       schools have participated in the National Day of Silence in past years; and
       
            WHEREAS, The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network's
       2013 National School Climate Survey illustrates the pervasive harassment
       and victimization faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
       students by documenting their experiences within the preceding academic
       year; and
       
            WHEREAS, Nearly 75 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
       transgender students reported being verbally harassed by their peers at
       school because of their sexual orientation, and more than 55 percent
       because of their gender expression; and
       
            WHEREAS, Thirty-six percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
       transgender students reported being physically harassed by their peers at
       school because of their sexual orientation, and over 20 percent because
       of their gender expression; and
       
            WHEREAS, Over 15 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
       transgender students reported being physically assaulted by their peers at
       school because of their sexual orientation, and more than 10 percent
       because of their gender expression; and
       
            WHEREAS, Nearly 60 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
       transgender students reported that they felt unsafe in school, and nearly
       30 percent reported missing at least one entire school day in the preceding
       month because of safety concerns; and
       
            WHEREAS, According to the National Transgender
       Discrimination Survey, those who expressed a transgender identity or
       gender nonconformity while in grades K-12 reported alarming rates of
       harassment, physical assault, and sexual violence so severe that almost 15
       percent of those surveyed had to leave school; and
       
            WHEREAS, Student academic performance is consequently
       affected such that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students who
       experienced high levels of verbal harassment because of their sexual
       orientation or gender expression report a grade point average nearly a
       half-grade lower than those of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
       students who experienced low levels of such harassment; and
       
            WHEREAS, The presence of supportive staff in schools
       contributed to a range of positive indicators, including fewer reports of
       students missing school, fewer reports of students feeling unsafe, greater
       academic achievement, higher educational aspirations, and a greater sense
       of school belonging; and
       
            WHEREAS, A growing number of cities and local education
       authorities in Colorado are adopting laws and policies to prohibit
       name-calling, bullying, harassment, and discrimination against students
       on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity or expression;
       and
       
            WHEREAS, Every child should be guaranteed an education free
       from name-calling, bullying, harassment, and discrimination, regardless
       of his or her sexual orientation and gender identity or expression; now,
       therefore,
       
            Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Seventieth
       General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:
       
            That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly, hereby
       recognize April 17, 2015, as the National Day of Silence and support the
       goals and ideals of the day.
       
            Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent
       to Governor John Hickenlooper; One Colorado; the Gill Foundation; the
       GLBT Center of Colorado; the Colorado Human Rights Campaign; the
       Matthew Shepard Foundation; the Denver LGBT Chamber of Commerce;
       the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado; PFLAG; Trans Youth Education
       and Support; Rainbow Alley; the Gender Identity Center; the Colorado
       Gay Rodeo Association; SAGE of the Rockies; the Four Corners Alliance
       for Diversity; the Colorado AIDS project; the Boulder County AIDS
       Project; Inside Out Youth Services; Out Boulder; Colorado West Pride;
       the Southern Colorado Equality Alliance; LGBT Northeast Colorado;
       OutServe; the Log Cabin Republicans; and American Veterans for Equal
       Rights.