In the last two months, there has been a great deal of attention given to the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth after the suicides of several teenagers who were gay or were perceived to be gay. Sadly, the issue hit home in early November when Brandon Bitner, a 14-year-old from Middleburg, took his own life.

According to his friends, he was the victim of anti-gay bullying. Bullying is not new, not only for LGBT youth but for straight kids, too. And schools, to their credit, have given childhood cruelty increased attention in recent years, implementing programs to help students deal with this problem.

While bullying is not new, the attention it is getting is a positive development. We don’t buy the excuse that childhood cruelty is simply a part of growing up. LGBT youth are particularly vulnerable.

They have higher rates of depression and suicidal thoughts than their straight peers. But little attention has been given to the impact our policymakers, particularly our state legislators, can have in addressing bullying of gay kids.

The General Assembly had three initiatives before it in the 2009-10 session that would advance equality for the LGBT community, including gay youth, but failed to pass any of them.

House Bill 300 would amend the commonwealth’s nondiscrimination law to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression” as protected classes. Passing this legislation would give a legal remedy to LGBT people who face discrimination in employment, education, housing and public accommodation.

How does that help LGBT kids? Children spend six to eight hours per day in school. The school setting provides ample opportunity for kids to face bullying from their classmates, and we have heard too many stories of school staff looking the other way when they hear homophobic comments.

When HB 300 becomes law, school administrators and staff can no longer ignore the bullying of LGBT kids. If they do, students can use the law to challenge the inability of the school to protect them from harassment. The bill passed the House State Government Committee in March 2009, went to the House Appropriations Committee, and hasn’t been heard from since.

It’s hard to wrap our minds around the idea that a significant number of members of the House believe it’s acceptable to discriminate against LGBT people who are fired from a job or denied a home due to their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. This bill can help LGBT kids whose schools ignore the cruelty they face.

A second bill would have an equal impact on LGBT students. House Bill 2569 would enhance the commonwealth’s existing law on bullying policies in public schools. Under current law, public schools are required to have policies on bullying. HB 2569 enhances the law by setting standards for schools to follow in implementing their policies. The bill includes a requirement for schools to provide protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, along with race, ethnicity, gender, religion and disability.

HB 2569 was introduced in June, which was relatively late in the session, and did not move out of the House Education Committee. If there is motivation to address bullying, this bill is a good vehicle for doing so.

Finally, sometimes the worst happens. Sometimes LGBT people are the victims of violent crime. In 2002, the Legislature passed a bill amending Pennsylvania's hate crimes law to include sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability, but in 2008, the state Supreme Court overturned that legislation due to the procedure the Legislature used to pass it. House Bill 745 would reinstate that amendment to the Ethnic Intimidation Statute.

Late last year, the House Judiciary Committee passed HB 745 on a bipartisan 18-8 vote. It was then sent to the House Appropriations Committee. And that's where it is today.

We can wring our hands over the treatment of LGBT kids, but policymakers can do something about it.

Passing legislation to include the gay community in the nondiscrimination law, the law on public school bullying policies and the hate crimes law gives these young people legal protection and sends a clear message that the leaders of our commonwealth will not accept mistreatment of kids over their actual or perceived sexual orientation.

Our kids deserve it.

Louis Marven is the director of Education and Youth Services at the LGBT Center Coalition in Harrisburg. Jason Landau Goodman is the youth organizer at Equality Pennsylvania. Jason Crighton is the LGBT field organizer for Equality Partners of Western PA of the Delta Foundation.