If a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender student is being harassed in school, there are a number of laws that may require the school to take action. Specific laws that may apply include:

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. § 1682.

The Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act, 24 P.S. § 5004.

The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The Pennsylvania Administrative Code, 22 Pa. Code §§ 4.4, 235.8.

Title IX and the Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act

The Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act ("PFEOA") of 1961 is a state law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at educational institutions that receive federal funding. Both the PFEOA and Title IX prohibit overt sex discrimination, and also require a school to take action to prevent student-on-student and staff-on-student harassment in certain circumstances.  

Because the PFEOA and Title IX only prohibit sex discrimination, not sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination, harassment of LGBT students may sometimes not fall within the protection of the acts. Such harassment often will constitute sex discrimination, however, particularly when the harassment is based on a student's non-conformity with gender stereotypes, or where the harassment is of a sexual nature (see the "Employment Discrimination" page for further details regarding the circumstances in which the courts have found harassment of LGBT individuals to be sex discrimination).

If an LGBT student is being harassed, it is important to report the harassment to a principal or district official (other than the harasser), preferably in writing. Schools often cannot be held responsible for failing to stop harassment if an appropriate upper-level official is not notified.

The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment United States Constitution

If public school administrators refuse to protect a student from harassment because the student is lesbian gay bisexual or transgender, this may violate the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Youth or parents who are faced with this type of situation should contact Equality Advocates or another attorney to discuss their options.

Pennsylvania Education Regulations

Pennsylvania has issued regulations prohibiting public schools from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, and making it a violation of the Pennsylvania Educator's Code of Conduct for an educator to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.   Therefore, a school or educator's failure to protect a student from known anti-gay harassment might constitute a violation of state regulations. It is not clear, however, whether these regulations are directly enforceable by individual students, or only by the Pennsylvania state agencies responsible for monitoring educational conduct. Complaints of educator misconduct can be filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Education.