Today on “The Capitol Pressroom,” Susan interviewed Ross Levi, Empire State Pride Agenda President. Ross came onto our program to talk about the “Dignity for All Act,” which will be signed on Wednesday, September 8th in Manhattan and will take affect on July 1, 2012. This is the first time that transgender people will have protection. Under this act, people will be prevented from being harassed, students and teachers will be trained on how to handle situations that arise from mistreatment, and incidents will be reported to the New York State Department of Education to keep track of events that took place. The two years will ensure an ample amount of time that everyone is well informed and ready to implement new changes. Parents/Guardians will have letters sent home on the new codes of conduct and the character classes that will be apart of the child’s curriculum. Levi wants to make sure that these are not “just words on a piece of paper.” The Character Classes came to fruition in 2002-2003 when the 1999 Columbine High School tragedy occurred.  The idea of thought for the class is simple – being nice to one another. Explaining what bias harassment is and why schools will not tolerate harassing behaviors. Ross Levi did say it took ten years, a little puzzling to why but at least it is here and the safety for students, not those who are LGBT or have parents/guardians who also might be as well, will be safe and secure to believe, practice and receive the education they deserve free from being bullied and scared to be in school.

(* posted by Jennifer Kelley, Producer)