The Obama administration’s top civil rights official on Thursday released a video as part of the “It Gets Better” Project, highlighting the work of the Justice Department defending gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students.
“If you have been targeted for harassment or bullying because of your sexual orientation, because of your because of your gender identity or expression, or simply because your classmates see you as different, I am here to tell you that we here in the Civil Rights Division will not stand for it,” Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez says in the video. “My colleagues in the Civil Rights Division want you to know that you are not alone.”
Earlier this year, the Justice Department intervened on behalf of a gay teenager using an interpretation of Title IX, the 1972 education law protecting students from gender discrimination. For the first time since the Clinton administration, the Justice Department argued that statute applied to gender identity as well.
The video, said DOJ, “features Division employees who share their individual stories and personal messages that a better future awaits youth who may be experiencing bullying or harassment.”
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