• Federal: No statutes.
• States: The push for antibullying legislation received national attention after the suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi. In the incident’s aftermath, New Jersey strengthened its antibullying legislation, which is now regarded as the toughest antibullying law in the country. As for other states, nearly all of them legally address bullying or discrimination in schools, but many do not define categories of protection. Below are the states that have and have not addressed discrimination or bullying based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Full protections (19)
Prohibit harassment in schools based on both gender identity and sexual orientation:
-Arkansas
-California
-Colorado
-Connecticut
-District of Columbia
-Illinois
-Iowa
-Maine
-Maryland
-Massachusetts
-Minnesota
-New Hampshire
-New Jersey
-New York
-North Carolina
-Oregon
-Rhode Island
-Vermont
-Washington
Some protections (1)
Prohibits harassment in schools based on sexual orientation:
-Wisconsin
No protections (31)
No laws prohibiting harassment in schools based on gender identity or sexual orientation:
-Alabama
-Alaska
-Arizona
-Delaware
-Florida
-Georgia
-Hawaii
-Idaho
-Indiana
-Kansas
-Kentucky
-Louisiana
-Michigan
-Mississippi
-Missouri
-Montana
-Nebraska
-Nevada
-New Mexico
-North Dakota
-Ohio
-Oklahoma
-Pennsylvania
-South Carolina
-South Dakota
-Tennessee
-Texas
-Utah
-Virginia
-West Virginia
-Wyoming
