Quinn Signs Suicide Prevention, Anti-Bullying Bills

Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn (D) traveled to Boystown during Pride festivities to sign two measures into law that stand to have significant effects on LGBTs - one to prevent teen suicides and the other to combat bullying in schools.

On June 26 Quinn came to the Center on Halsted to sign legislation requiring school social workers for grades seven through 12 to undergo suicide prevention training. The bill also emphasizes increased and more frequent suicide prevention training for school teachers and administrators.

"It's a law that saves lives," Quinn said. "The third leading cause of death for teenagers in this country is suicide."

The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) and state Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago), is modeled after the Jason Flatt Act, legislation that was passed first in Tennessee and is named after Jason Flatt, who committed suicide in 1997 at age 16. His family subsequently founded the Jason Foundation, which provides education, including professional training, on suicide prevention. Illinois is the fifth state to pass the legislation.

Harris said lawmakers were shocked and saddened by what they heard when they held committee hearings on the issue.

"We're hoping that this training will help teachers, counselors and others in schools learn what the signs are," Harris said.

Quinn said recent surveys have shown that 14.5 percent of Illinois teenagers said they had seriously considered suicide in the preceding 12 months, and 8.9 percent said they had attempted it. Among LGBT teens the numbers are significantly higher, as much as 4-5 times higher, say experts.

Mike McRaith, the director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, said the fact that the governor signed the legislation at the Center on Halsted had special meaning for him.

"More than 14 years ago, my partner Eric killed himself," McRaith said, describing the sense of loss and bewilderment he felt. Suicide affects every demographic, McRaith said, praising the law as a significant step.

Harris said the bill won't be affected by the state's budget woes, as the Jason Foundation plans to provide the additional trainings for school officials.

The next morning, on June 27, just two hours before Chicago's LGBT Pride Parade kicked off a few blocks away, Quinn stopped at Nettelhorst Elementary School to sign legislation that requires schools to adopt written policies on bullying and to maintain records on bullying incidents. It also mandates the creation of a statewide Bullying Prevention Task Force.

"We're really sending out the message loud and clear that bullying in schools in the Land of Lincoln is not permitted," Quinn said.

The measure was sponsored by Rep. Karen Yarbrough (D-Broadview) and Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Westchester) and passed 108-0 in the Illinois House and 51-2 in the Illinois Senate. It was pushed by the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, which works to improve conditions for LGBT students in schools. The legislation prohibits bullying based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.

"We now have a powerful tool to stop this kind of bullying and violence in schools," said ISSA Executive Director Shannon Sullivan.

ISSA and its allies and predecessors worked more than a decade to get the legislation passed, and Sullivan praised them. But she reserved her greatest praise for students who have endured bullying and become vocal advocates for reform in their schools.

"It has always been the students who have been the real activists," Sullivan said.

Joining Quinn at the bill signing were U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago), state Reps. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) and Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston), Illinois Department of Human Rights Director Rocco Claps and Illinois Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation Brent Adams.