Lorna Bowman is a professor of religious studies at Brescia University in London, Ontario, Canada. Her research focuses on the intersection of religion and education, with an emphasis on Catholicism.

The Louisville Institute is a seminary that works to enrich the religious life of American Christians and to encourage the revitalization of their institutions, by bringing together those who lead religious institutions with those who study them, so that the work of each might inform and strengthen the other.

The Rev. Pamela Lee Cranston is a priest and vicar at St. Cuthbert’s Episcopal Church in Oakland, Calif., where one-third of the congregation is LGBT. In 2008, church members rallied in support of a “gay prom” in nearby Hayward.

Read a June 11, 2013, article from the Los Angeles Times about legislative efforts to protect students from anti-gay bullying and the resulting conservative backlash.

Read a June 16, 2013, article from the Los Angeles Times about a No Child Left Behind revision intended to protect students from anti-gay bullying.

Read a July 5, 2013, article from the Associated Press about the Church of England’s effort to end anti-gay bullying in its schools.

A Nov. 17, 2008, report from the Britain-based website Ekklesia notes that one in four young people from across all religions have been bullied because of their religious beliefs.

See an April 16, 2010, article on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s site about some Christians’ concerns that efforts to highlight harassment of LGBT students, such as the “Day of Silence” observed at some schools, are essentially attempts to promote gay rights.

Forty-nine states have anti-bullying laws, according to Bully Police USA, a watchdog organization composed of parents.