DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – It was easy enough for Alison Mollman to see as she walked the hallways of Cedar Rapids Prairie High School.

There was the boorish language, sometimes masked as a slip of the tongue. “That’s so gay,” a classmate might lament.

Or times when the language would escalate to epithets and name-calling.

The worst, though, was the violence – or at least the threat of it. A casual shoulder brush with the wrong classmate could provoke an immediate, physical reprisal.

The bullying, in its various and insidious forms, was enough to break some of Mollman’s classmates. She remembers one who was so paralyzed with fear that he held himself out of school for a week.

When she called to ask why, he told her, plainly: “I hate it there. No one likes me.”

Mollman confesses that the impact of bullying was marginal during her own high school experience, and in a sense it explains, in part, why she has spent a lot of energy as a young adult pushing her school district – and the state – to adopt language that specifically addresses bullying based on sexual orientation.

Openly gay by the time she was 15 years old, Mollman was comfortable in her own skin – and mostly unfazed by any attempts by her classmates to make an issue of her sexuality. Mollman said she was able to enjoy her high school experience and to excel in the classroom. To her it is plainly unjust that anyone – gay or straight – would not have the same opportunity.

“A lot of students – gay and lesbian students, straight students – face difficult home situations,” Mollman said. “Their school should be a safe haven. They should not have to come to school and experience harassment.”

At the Capitol in Des Moines, efforts to codify anti-bullying legislation that specifically addresses sexual orientation have proven unsuccessful – to the frustration of many, including Gov. Tom Vilsack.

The issue is a personal one for the governor – as a chubby child in grade school he was a victim of bullying, and he has said he knows firsthand how fear and intimidation can affect someone’s ability to learn. When he leaves office in January, Vilsack said he will count the Legislature’s inability to pass anti-bullying language on his watch as a disappointment.

“I think every child deserves a safe place to go to school and to learn,” Vilsack said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Bullying shouldn’t be tolerated. We should be making a statement that there’s not a justified reason to be bullied.”

Opponents of anti-bullying legislation in the Legislature have said that dictating changes or additions to school policies at a state level endangers the independence of Iowa’s school districts.

Proponents, including Vilsack, dismiss that argument as weak, particularly because statistics show bullying affects the welfare of all students – not just gays and lesbians.

Brad Clark, the executive director of the GLBT Youth in Iowa Schools Task Force, said up to 70 percent of bullying based on sexual orientation is directed at students who are straight.

“We should be able to say that every student in Iowa is safe at school,” Clark said. “Gay, lesbian or straight.”

With inaction at the legislative level, efforts to raise awareness about bullying have taken a grassroots turn. Clark has organized forums in a number of school districts, with a simple goal: educate local school boards about bullying in an effort to get anti-bullying language codified one school district at a time, if necessary.

Clark and Vilsack say they’re happy with the results so far – 77 of Iowa’s school districts have adopted the anti-bullying language. They also acknowledge there is a long way to go.

Critical to the cause, Clark said, are students such as Mollman and recent Cedar Falls High School graduate CJ Champ, who can provide important testimonials for local officials.

Now 19 and a sophomore-to-be at the University of Iowa, Mollman has continued to share her high school experiences, and to push her local school board to adopt anti-bullying language.

Champ, 17, said he was fortunate to have gone to a high school where anti-bullying language was adopted.

“The policy has improved the climate,” he said. “Students know what is and what isn’t out of line. … Awareness is very important.”

The policy has not eliminated bullying altogether, but gives teachers more authority to stop the behavior, Champ said.

Champ will attend the University of Northern Iowa this fall, and said he won’t give up the fight for anti-bullying legislation.