Bullies

Romney’s Administration Stopped Publication Of Anti-Bullying Guide For Schools

What a jerk! As the Massachusetts governor in 2006, Mitt Romney’s administration prevented the publication of an anti-bullying guide because the Department of Public Health objected to the terms “bisexual” and “transgender.” From The Boston Globe:

Romney aides said publicly at the time that publication of the guide had been delayed because it was a lengthy document that required further review. But an e-mail authored in May of that year by a high-ranking Department of Public Health official – and obtained last week by the Globe through a public records request – reflected a different reason.

“Because this is using the terms ‘bisexual’ and ‘transgendered,’ DPH’s name may not be used in this publication,’’ wrote the official, Alda Rego-Weathers, then the deputy commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Because the Department of Public Health was the primary sponsor and funding source of the guide, the move effectively blocked its publication. Rego-Weathers said in the e-mail that she had been consulting with Romney’s office on the issue.

Add this revelation to the ever growing list of anti-gay measures from Romney and his aides over the years. The halt of the booklet, called “Guide to Bullying Prevention,” followed Romney’s threats to shutter the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth. Earlier in his term, he reduced funds for the hate crimes task force. And then there’s the account of his bullying a gay peer while in prep school in 1965.

The booklet was eventually published in 2008, when Democrat Deval Patrick was in office.

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