I Just Met Sen. Al Franken

I happened to be passing Sam Seder's radio booth when Franken arrived for his interview. Introduced myself, shook hands, got a pleasant (if distracted) "Heyhowareya!" Totally bloggable, though.

MINNESOTA: Gay Teen Commits Suicide

Openly gay Minnesota high school student Lance Lundsten, 18, committed suicide this weekend. Friends are blaming bullying.

Around 10 p.m. Saturday the Douglas County Sheriff's Office responded to an emergency call at the Lundsten's residence in Miltona. When officers arrived, they discovered 18-year-old Lance Lundsten needing emergency medical care. Lundsten was transported to the Douglas County Hospital where he later died. The Sheriff's Office confirmed to KSAX that they believed Lundsten's death was a suicide. The Sheriff would not confirm the nature of the medical emergency. According to his Facebook page, Lundsten was openly gay. On a Facebook memorial page in Lundsten's honor, friends said that Lundsten had been bullied at school for his sexual orientation. Some students who knew Lundsten believed the bullying may have led to his suicide.

Lundsten's classmates have launched an anti-bullying Facebook page. Sen. Al Franken sent his condolences to the family, saying, "My heart goes out to Lance's family, and friends and loved ones. It's a tragic event, not only for them, but for the school, and the Alexandria community and really for all of us. LGBT kids really do need more protection." Franken is the cosponsor of a federal anti-bullying bill called the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would forbid schools from ignoring anti-gay bullying. Christianist groups are vehemently opposing the bill.

Sen. Al Franken On DADT Fail

NET NEUTRALITY: Sen. Al Franken Warns That Corporations Will Run The Internet

Calling it the First Amendment issue of our time, during his closing keynote at Netroots Nation, Sen. Al Franken warned that unless net neutrality is preserved, media corporations that are also internet providers will soon throttle the speeds of their competitors, an issue we've long been discussing here on JMG.

(Via - Towleroad)

LIVE VIDEO: Sen. Al Franken's Closing Keynote Address At Netroots Nation

UPDATE: The live stream is concluded. Franken opened with the "NeVAHda vs. NeVEHda" controversy. Preceding him was Tarryl Clark (Michele Bachmann's opponent), and Linda Chavez-Thompson, candidate for Lt. Governor of Texas. Fantastic night!

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) Introduces Federal Anti-Bullying Bill

Today Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and 21 fellow Senators introduced a federal bill intended to protect LGBT students from harassment and bullying. Via the ACLU:

The Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) would help to end entrenched biases towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students in our education system. A similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in January by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) and currently has over 100 co-sponsors. The American Civil Liberties Union strongly supports these bills and urges swift action by both chambers. The ACLU is currently involved in a case that underscores the need for the SNDA. In April, the ACLU filed a complaint with the Itawamba County School District in Fulton, Mississippi urging the school district to reverse its decision to forbid a lesbian student from attending a prom with her girlfriend and from wearing a tuxedo to the prom. After school officials canceled the prom altogether rather than allow Constance McMillen to attend the dance in a tuxedo with her girlfriend, the ACLU then filed a federal lawsuit. In a preliminary ruling in April, the court found that Itawamba County School District officials violated McMillen's First Amendment right to freedom of expression, and the case is expected to go to trial.

Franken says that he and others are working on language to define what constitutes bullying. But he says that most people know it when they see it. As noted in the above-linked story, Rep. Jared Polis introduced similar legislation in the U.S. House earlier this year. Here's the list of Senate co-sponsors:

SNDA is co-sponsored by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Robert Menedez (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii).