After Her Son's Suicide, Tammy Aaberg Fights Hard for LGBT Youth

In July 2010, 15-year-old Justin Aaberg took his life after experiencing rampant anti-gay bullying and harassment in the Anoka-Hennepin School District, Minnesota's largest district. The tragedy sparked nationwide discussion about the role of school district's to prevent anti-gay bullying and harassment, with all eyes turning toward a harmful policy on the books in the Anoka-Hennepin School District called the "neutrality policy."
What the "neutrality policy" does, in nearly every respect, is prevent teachers and educators in the district from discussing anything LGBT-related in the classroom. It was a policy adopted after a bunch of activism by "pro-family" groups in the district (including the Parents Action League and the Minnesota Family Council), and a policy that community members say limits the role that teachers and educators can play in curbing anti-gay bullying, and making LGBT students feel like they have a safe place to learn.
And since her son's death in July, it's a policy that Tammy Aaberg, Justin's mother, has continued to speak out against. Last week, Aaberg was interviewed on the A Thousand Moms Talk podcast, where she spoke about the activism she's doing in the Anoka-Hennepin community to dismantle the "neutrality" policy, and about the shady ties between school district administrators and conservative anti-gay activists in the district.
"[The neutrality policy] still puts in place a bad climate for gay students," Aaberg said on the podcast.
She went on to describe how anti-gay groups like the Parents Action League and the Minnesota Family Council brag about how the "neutrality" policy keeps discussions of sexual orientation out of the classroom. She said that one leading anti-gay activist in the district noted that it was "God's grace" that LGBT materials were kept out of schools.
Pretty shameful for anti-gay activists to claim that God finds it graceful to see LGBT kids taunted, harassed, and bullied. But given the fact that groups like the Parents Action League want students to be taught the merits of "conversion therapy," perhaps it's not all that surprising.
On the upswing, on Tuesday of this week, the neighboring Minneapolis School Board voted on a resolution to significantly expand its LGBT curriculum and anti-bullying efforts. From this point forward, schools in the city of Minneapolis will be tracking cases of LGBT bullying extensively, and including specific LGBT themes in school curriculum.
Pretty amazing how a school district can be one of the best in the country vis a vis LGBT issues, and a neighboring one can be one of the worst. Anoka-Hennepin has a thing or two to learn from Minneapolis.
Check out Tammy Aaberg's interview with A Thousand Moms Talk here. She has become a powerful voice for school safety, telling the podcast hosts that Anoka-Hennepin schools are still not a safe space for LGBT students.
"I honestly didn't think it was this bad in the school district ... I had no clue that in a school that they would have a climate like this and be OK with it," Aaberg concludes.
You can also send a message to the Anoka-Hennepin district, telling them that it's time to drop this homophobic and bogus "neutrality policy," by clicking here.
Photo credit: YouTube

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