1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Student Non-Discrimination Act of 2018 . 2. Findings and purposes (a) Findings The Congress finds the following: (1) Public school students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), or are perceived to be LGBT, or who associate with LGBT people, have been and are subjected to pervasive discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence, and have been deprived of equal educational opportunities, in schools in every part of our Nation. (2) While discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence, of any kind is harmful to students and to our education system, actions that target students based on sexual orientation or gender identity represent a distinct and especially severe problem. (3) Numerous social science studies dem­on­strate that discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence, at school has contributed to high rates of absenteeism, dropout, adverse health consequences, and academic underachievement among LGBT youth. (4) When left unchecked, discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence, in schools based on sexual orientation or gender identity can lead, and has led to, life-threatening violence and to suicide. (5) Public school students enjoy a variety of constitutional rights, including rights to equal protection, privacy, and free expression, which are infringed when school officials engage in discriminatory treatment or are indifferent to discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence, on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. (6) While Federal statutory protections expressly address discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, and national origin, Federal civil rights statutes do not expressly include sexual orientation or gender identity . As a result, students and parents have often had limited legal recourse to redress for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or