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Last week I wrote about the Minnesota case brought against the teachers of a student who endured anti-gay bullying at the hands of the teachers. Those teachers used gay slurs against the student, and the county eventually settled the lawsuit.

I had teachers in junior high who did the same thing to me, so the Minnesota story struck a tender spot with me. As does this one:

The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit against the Mohawk Central School District in Herkimer County for failing to protect a gay student who does not conform to masculine stereotypes from vicious and relentless harassment, physical abuse and threats of violence.

Over the past two school years, Jacob, a 14-year-old student at Gregory B. Jarvis Junior/Senior High School, endured escalating harassment for his sexual orientation and for not conforming to masculine stereotypes. He suffered near-constant verbal assault, his personal property has been defaced and broken, and he was regularly pushed and had things thrown at him. This past year, a student knocked Jacob down the stairs and sprained his ankle and a student brought a knife to school and threatened to kill him.

. . . “Jacob, like all students, has a right to be safe at school,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. “No child should live in fear because of their sexual orientation, or because they look or act differently than others. That the principal and other school officials would turn their backs on this vulnerable young man is unconscionable. What’s more, it’s illegal.”

The lawsuit maintains that the school district violated Jacob’s rights under the 14th Amendment; Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, and state human rights and civil rights laws. It names the following defendants: Mohawk Central School District; Joyce Caputo, superintendent of schools; Edward Rinaldo, the school’s principal; and Cynthia Stocker, the district’s equal opportunity compliance officer.

Gotta love justice. And the NYCLU.