To the editor:

I would like to apologize for assuming Mr. Thom’s position was based on his religious beliefs; I am not privy to the complex inner workings of Mr. Thom’s mind. Now that he has clarified, I would like to acknowledge that his misunderstanding of the law is the basis of his position, not his religious views.

Mr. Thom is correct in his assertion that the toolkit cited in my previous letter is not a literal law. The toolkit is a set of guidelines provided by the governmental agency, the Minnesota Department of Education. As stated in the introduction of the document, its goal is to assist schools in creating safe, supportive school environments for all students, as required by state or federal law. If Mr. Thom is interested in viewing the actual legal statutes that were the foundation of the toolkit, I would encourage him to visit the Office of the Revisor of Statutes website, which is linked in the toolkit. Under Minnesota statute 121A.031, which is the state anti-bullying statute that I believe Mr. Thom was attempting to cite, it states that “harming conduct” (which includes “intentional infliction of emotional distress”) is prohibited, including harming conduct aimed at students based on students’ “sexual orientation, including gender identity and expression.”

Again, I apologize for assuming that Mr. Thom’s false statements stemmed from his religious preferences rather than what is clearly a simple inability to navigate state statutes. I am glad that Mr. Thom and I can agree that all students deserve kindness and respect. For me, kindness and respect should remain unrestricted and unconditional.

Casey McMullen

New Ulm

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Address letters to: Letters to the Editor, The Journal, P.O. Box 487, New Ulm MN 56073-0487, or e-mail them to editor@nujournal.com.