It is now explicitly against FAU policy to harass or discriminate against gays and lesbians.

At a Nov. 16 meeting on the Fort Lauderdale campus, the university’s board of trustees — the 13 top decision-makers — voted unanimously to approve an amendment to Regulation 5.010, “Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment.” It now includes sexual orientation as a protected class along with others already listed such as race, religion and veteran status.

The vote took place 40 minutes into the meeting, but was over in seconds.

“Is there a motion to approve?” board chairman Robert Stilley asked. A motion was made and seconded. “All in favor?” he asked. There was a chorus of “ayes.” “Opposed?” he asked. Silence followed. “OK. That passes unanimously too, then,” Stilley said.

The amendment was passed as part of the “consent agenda,” a block of decisions made in one quick and convenient vote because the board discussed them at previous meetings. There was no discussion of some students’ concerns raised earlier in the week that the amended policy is insufficient because it does not include “gender identity.”

That term is intended to protect students who may be judged by their appearance as anything other than heterosexual — including not just lesbians and gays, but also transgender and cross-dressing students — regardless of their actual sexual preferences.

“It’s a great feeling to finally see that progress was made,” said Boca campus House Speaker Boris Bastidas. “However, by not including gender identity we are again specifically keeping a group out that is protected at other universities, including both the flagship schools, UF and FSU.” UCF and New College of Florida also include the term in their policies, while until this week FAU and FAMU were the only schools not listing sexual orientation.

“I hope that the BOT can move on gender identity sooner than later. This should not take nearly three years again, when all it takes is contacting other schools and using them as an example,” Bastidas added. SG’s effort to get the policy updated began in April 2009.

The concerns about including gender identity were publicly voiced at a Boca campus rally two days before the BOT meeting, held jointly by FAU’s gender rights club Lambda United and Student Government.

“Sexual orientation and gender identity need to be on the bill so that if members of the LGBTQA community were hurt by a hate crime, they would be able to sue and be accountable in the school — not just the county,” Lambda United publicity chairman Josh Murphy said on Monday.

However, at the BOT meeting Wednesday, nobody spoke during the portion of the meeting allotted for public comment.

Other updates to university regulations in the BOT’s consent agenda included several clarifications and the addition of cyberstalking and cyberbullying as violations of the Student Code of Conduct.

AT&T executive and FAU alum Ralph de la Vega and Marvin Weiner, a university donor who died last summer, were nominated for honorary doctorate degrees. FAU President Mary Jane Saunders’ employment contract was also updated with a technical correction, although her salary and benefits package remains the same.