LGBTQ dispute leads to school reforms

After a student received problematic treatment for declaring she was a lesbian, a Kansas school district is making changes.

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August 2, 2021 - 8:17 AM

A bus driver and middle school principal for the North Lyon County school district sexually harassed 8th grader Izzy Dieker, center, for saying “I’m a lesbian” during a Jan. 27 bus ride. Her stepmother, Tasha Cooper, and father, Daniel Dieker, supported the 14-year-old as she spoke out about the discrimination. (Zach DeLoach/Emporia Gazette)

AMERICUS, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas school district plans to offer anti-discrimination training to staff and teachers in response to complaints about how an eighth-grade student was treated after she said she was a lesbian.

North Lyon County officials notified the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas that it plans to provide the training, particularly as it relates to the LGBTQ community, The Emporia Gazette reported.

The ACLU had threatened to sue the district after Izzy Dieker, who was an eighth grader at the time, was suspended from riding the bus for two days in January because she said “I am a lesbian” while on the bus. She said she didn’t ride again for two weeks because she felt humiliated.

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