Bullying bill balking

A House bill to fight bullying stalled Tuesday over whether to include gay students.

The School Violence Protection Act would require school administrators adopt policies to investigate and punish bullying and harassment.

But it ran into trouble over this definition:

Bullying or harassing behavior includes, but is not limited to, acts reasonably perceived as being motivated by any actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, or sensory disability, or by association with a person who has or is perceived to have one or more of these characteristics.

Rep. Rick Glazier, a Fayetteville Democrat, said that the bill was trying to give "special attention" to students that suffer the most in schools, according to the Associated Press.

But Rep. Paul Stam, an Apex Republican who is the House minority leader, said the bill should protect all children and not list those deserving more attention:

"I was bullied as a kid and I wasn't on that list," he said.