LIC teen sues DOE in anti-gay discrimination case
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A Long Island City teen and his family sued the Department of Education, the Board of Education and administrators at I.S. 126 for anti-gay discrimination. Photo via Google Maps
By Jacob Kaye
A Queens teen and his family have sued the Department of Education, Board of Education and various administrators of a Long Island City middle school, alleging the educators failed to protect the student from constant bias-based discrimination and abuse.
The lawsuit says that the 14-year-old student – identified as D.S. – was bullied and harassed for his sexual orientation throughout 6th and 7th grade while attending I.S. 126Q Albert Shanker School for Visual & Performing Arts.
Despite constant attempts by both the student and his parents to get teachers and administrators to intervene, the problems persisted, the complaint reads. In most cases the student’s complaints were outright dismissed, the lawsuit says.
“In many of those instances, [school administrators] substantiated the allegation that the harassment occurred, that the bullying occurred but it was frequently treated as not serious or excused the behavior, accusing [D.S.] of instigating it – telling him that it was his own fault for being so open about his sexuality,” said David Lebowitz, the attorney representing D.S. and his family.
D.S. began attending I.S. 126 in 2017, not long after he’d been adopted by Jason Cianciotto and his husband Courter Simmons, who lived in Long Island City. D.S. had previously lived in a Colorado foster home after being abandoned by his previous foster parents after he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.
Soon after enrolling at the middle school, D.S. came out as gay, according to the lawsuit. Being open about his and his parents sexuallity quickly led to verbal and, at times, physical abuse, the complaint states.
“It was devastating to watch my son suffer on a daily basis,” said Cianciotto. “Bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity expression is not just wrong, it’s against the law.”
“The DOE and staff at I.S. 126 had a responsibility to follow that law and to keep my son safe,” Cianciotto added. “They repeatedly failed to do so and they should be held legally and publicly accountable.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the allegations were “deeply troubling,” adding that the agency has a “zero tolerance for bullying or harassment of any kind.”
“Every student deserves to feel safe, welcomed, and affirmed in their school and we have invested in trainings and support to reform classroom culture, with a focus on inclusive policies and effective strategies to prevent bullying,” the spokesperson said. “The safety of our students is our number one priority and we will review the complaint and immediately investigate the claims.”
The DOE added that it overhauled its bullying and harassment reporting, investigation and follow-up procedures in the past two years.
I.S. 126 did not respond to request for comment.
The lawsuit also alleges that I.S. 126 administrators engaged in sexual orientation discrimination themselves when they told D.S. and Cianciotto that the school didn’t want to create a Gay Straight Alliance club out of fear of upsetting parents with conservative religious beliefs.
At one point during the 2018-2019 school year, an investigator from the DOE’s Office of Equal Opportunity looked into D.S.’s complaints and ruled that they didn’t rise to the level of disrcimination, the lawsuit says. Instead, the investigator found that because the slurs and abuse came from D.S.’s peers, it could only be classified as bullying.
In March 2019, D.S. and his family filed another complaint with the school alleging bias based harassment. Though the school’s principal found the complaint to be unsubstantiated, Cianciotto brought the complaint to Jared Fox, the DOE’s LGBTQ liaison.
By May 2019, Fox had initiated proceedings to move D.S. to a different school. The teen left I.S. 126 later that month.
“We hope that the case will set an example that it’s not acceptable to turn a blind eye to bullying LBGT kids in school,” Lebowitz said. “It’s really important to his family that they’re standing up for what’s right here and sort of standing in for other kids and families who maybe aren’t in a position to take up the fight. We hope that it’ll make a real difference.”
