We were encouraged by the Guilderland School Board’s reaction last week to concerns raised by two transgender students, Ryka Sweeney and Julia Crooks, members of the Guilderland High School Alliance.

Several board members praised the students for speaking out and said they would come up with “appropriate LGBT policies,” policies to ensure fair treatment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students.

This was a far cry from the reaction of some board members 20 years ago — none of whom are on the board now — when the Alliance was formed. There has been a welcome sea change in our society since then.

In the mid-1990s, Guilderland High School had an assembly on diversity. One of the speakers was a 1988 Guilderland graduate, Daniel O’Neal, who went on to graduate from Yale University, with honors, and serve in the Peace Corps.

Some called for the resignation of the school principal for holding the assembly.

O’Neal had spoken of how he was physically and psychologically abused at Guilderland for being gay.

“I’m just like you are,” he said, “and I don’t deserve to be picked on.”

No one deserves to be picked on. One of the transgender students, Ryka Sweeney, told us of how she had been picked on. “Tackle the fag,” yelled a boy in her gym class as they played flag football. Another student had tweeted mean things about Sweeney.

A school policy is a first and necessary step to stop such behavior.

The day after the transgender students spoke in Guilderland, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced regulations to protect transgender New Yorkers were taking effect.

The regulations, effective on Jan. 20, affirm that transgender people are protected under New York’s Human Rights Law. That law — the first of its kind in the nation, enacted in 1945 — affords every citizen “an equal opportunity to enjoy a full and productive life.”

People — now including transgender people — who feel they have been harassed or discriminated against can file complaints free of charge in state court, or with the New York State Division of Human Rights.

If the division finds probable cause to believe discrimination or harassment has occurred, the commissioner of Human Rights decides the case after a public hearing and may levy civil fines and penalties up to $50,000 or as much as $100,000 if the discrimination is found to be “willful, wanton, or malicious”

The commissioner may also award job, housing, or other benefits; back and front pay; and compensatory damages for mental anguish — and, unlike under federal law, compensatory damages to individuals are not capped.

Additionally, the commissioner may also require policy changes and training.

So, the adoption of a policy for the Guilderland schools is timely as well as necessary.

But, while the state law and the school policy are essential, we urge those in our community to go beyond the letter of the law or the policy, once it’s adopted. Read our profile of Ryka Sweeney, an articulate 17-year-old with some worthwhile advice.

To forbid discrimination or harassment is one thing; to understand and accept someone who may be different than ourselves is another.

Sweeney has concrete recommendations — like gender-neutral bathrooms at the school — as well as more philosophical advice. For those who are transgender, Sweeney suggests, “Find safe bases where you can be yourself.” For those who are unfamiliar or put off by the concept, Sweeney urges, “Be open.”

 We’ll have a stronger and richer community if we follow that advice.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer