As Jamie Nabozny surveyed the crowd inside Knowlton Auditorium Monday night, he spoke plainly about the recent attention bullying is getting.

While the Twin Cities anti-gay bullying advocate spoke about gay bullying, it was clear his message was about all kinds of harassment.

“I don’t believe (gay bullying is) any different today than it was 15 years ago,” Nabozny told a crowd of more than 200 people.

Nabozny was part of Austin Public School’s recently renewed efforts to combat bullying of all forms in the district. His message, and the message of “Bullied,” a recent documentary about his experiences being bullied, is clear: It needs to end, and it’s going to be a long process.

“We need to teach kids it’s OK to be who you are,” Nabozny said.

Nabozny’s lecture and a showing of “Bullied” Monday night is the first of several Austin High School presentations on bullying that will take place through spring.

Nabozny made history when in 1995 he sued his former high school in Ashland, Wis. after school administrators didn’t punish classmates who bullied him for being gay. Instead, they told him to expect being bullied because of his sexual orientation.

He suffered intense emotional pain from bullies who not only called him names but sexually harassed him and worse. Nabozny was beaten by several students so severely in high school that he needed stomach surgery and a five-day hospital stay. In another incident, he was urinated on by bullies in a restroom only a couple weeks into his freshman year. After running away several times, he moved to Minneapolis, where local gay advocates helped him earn a GED, find a job and convinced him to sue his former school.

After initially losing his case in U.S. District Court, the decision was overturned on appeal, and Nabozny eventually settled with Ashland Public School District officials after a jury found the school’s administrators were at fault. Nabozny’s lawsuit was the first time a court found schools have a responsibility to protect students from anti-gay slurs and abuse.

He currently works full-time as an advocate, giving lectures to high schools across the country and hosting seminars on bullying and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender-inclusive efforts.

“I’m glad our community got to see what goes on in schools,” said Anthony Jax, an AHS senior and president of AHS’s Diversity Club/Gay-Straight Alliance, which co-sponsored the event with CHAI and the Austin Human Rights Commission.

“I’m hoping that a lot of eyes were opened and I’m excited for positive reinforcement, positive feedback from our community,” he said.

Nabozny will make a similar presentation to AHS students Tuesday during a school assembly. His presentation is the first of several, according to district officials. The next such assembly, about cyber bullying, will take place in March.

“This is something people are genuinely (concerned) about,” said Kirsten Lindbloom, CHAI Coordinator. “It’s about safety and it’s about our kids.”