Transgender Boy Harassing Girls in the Bathroom Gets No Punishment

[TraciMC]

Cristan Williams phoned the school in question this morning.  This is what the school superintendent says:

"This is one parent basically bringing their viewpoint about this situation to the media because they weren't getting the responses they hoped they would get from the district, from parents and students at the high school, or from the board and myself.  I think it is just an attempt to elevate the situation to a point where maybe some more attention can be drawn to that in the hope of having a different outcome.  To our knowledge and based on our investigation, none of those things have actually happened. We do have a transgender student at the high school. And she has been using the women's restroom. There has not been a situation.  All the students who have -- of these parents to say they feel uncomfortable, it's just about the fact that the student is allowed to go into the restroom stalls at the high school. They don't believe that that's appropriate.  So that is where it stems from.  There's not been an incident of harassment or anything that would cause any additional concern other than that.  And there was some rumor about a shared use of the locker room, and that did not happen, and we found that to not be the case at all....And we do have an attorney working on that and talking to these folks, because that's our concern, there's been inaccurate information in pretty much everything that has been said, at several different levels.  I don't know, I'm really disappointed."

https://soundcloud.com/cristan-williams/fact-checking-trans-student

[Bardoux]

Girls 'harassed' in school bathroom by transgender student told his rights trump their privacy
Daily Mail, October 13th

A male student at Florence (CO) High School who claims to be transgendered has caused controversy by harassing female students in the girls room, but will not face any discipline – this despite vocal protests from the girls' parents.

Unidentified because all involved are minors, the students are being threatened with removal from sports teams or even hate crime charges if they continue to voice concerns, said the site.

The school even suggested the girls give up some or most of their restrooms in order to accommodate their transgendered classmate.

The response outraged parents and the Pacific Justice Institute, a civil rights group who wrote a letter to the school the demanding an explanation.

'We're not going to stand by and let 99.7 per cent of our students lose their privacy and free speech rights just because .3 per cent of the population are gender-confused,' said the letter.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2457952/Girls-harassed-school-bathroom-transgender-student-told-rights-trump-privacy.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

[ChelseaAnn]

Well its a good thing the article is not accurate, but I apologize for my post.
I realize that as a group it is natural for us to become defensive and try to blame the source, as is the case here. But, the bigger issue, which I am going to bring up, is what if this had been true. After all, there are.idiots in every group.

To me, if this had been real, I believe the right of privacy is not the issue. If there is sexual harassment going on, then that trumps the trans issue. She wants to be a girl? Then she should. Be treated as any other girl who sexually harasses another girl. You got the right to use the proper bathroom, don't abuse it.

[Gina Taylor]

This is exactly why we have the issues we do today. It would not surprise me if this person was put up to it by parents or staff so they could justify changing the rules back to before. I bet this person is not even transgender. If this person was they would be happy with being able to live like they want and would be covert to keep such rights, not rubbing it in peoples faces. This is a setup, plain and simple to show just cause why this should be discontinued. You have to love people who do things like this to discredit, embarrass and keep us subdued and back in the closet, so to speak. My closet door lock broke!  They are not locking me back up, ever! 

Very good point made Jessica. Stand tall Girl!

[Cyndigurl45]

My first clue this was a biased report was "Transgendered Boy"  this young woman was bashed in the second word, to me a Transgendered boy is F2M.

[dalebert]

My first clue this was a biased report was "Transgendered Boy"  this young woman was bashed in the second word, to me a Transgendered boy is F2M.

Yep. We talked about this on the show last night and that came up a few times.

[Beth Andrea]

I didn't read the comments the first time so I went back and read them and now I sort of wish I hadn't; its sad to know that there are so many people out there that refuse to educate themselves about the world around them and live in ignorance.

There was no harassment; everything was fine until a "do gooder" outed her on facebook and started the whole mess.

Arrgghh, me too. I told myself over and over, don't read...don't read...but then I wanted to see the context of:

When your child tells you he is the opposite sex...you tell him very firmly, "NO, you are NOT a girl, and that's the end of that!"

One of the hard-core Bible thumpers wrote it ("Jason")...what he doesn't talk about is what if the child says 'But I am! I am a girl!"...no doubt he'd say (off the record) it's ok to beat the tar out of the child until "he" submits to the father's authority. And to learn advanced first aid, so one doesn't have to bring the child to the ER after a severe beating.

Most of those replies simply sickened me. The good ones though, the ones who support us, were almost always very kind, very patient...to be honest I was surprised at this.

[Amelia Pond]

Girls Harassed by Transgender Student in Bathroom, Threatened with 'Hate Crime' Charges if They Complain
Alec Torres, October 15, 2013, 5:41 PM

When a male transgender student of Florence High School, Colo., began harassing girls in the women's bathroom, the girls and their families took their concerns to the school. However, school officials told the girls and their parents that the boy's rights as a transgender person outweighed the girls' rights to privacy. It apparently outweighed their desire to not be sexually harassed in public-school restrooms as well. When the girls and their parents continued to voice opposition, school officials further threatened the concerned students that they would be kicked off of athletic teams or charged with hate crimes if they continued to oppose the boy's "rights."

The Pacific Justice Institute took up the girls' cause, sending a strongly worded letter to school officials in an effort to protect students' privacy and speech rights. "This is a nightmare scenario for the teenage girls—some of them freshmen—and their parents at this school," wrote the PJI in a press release. "This is exactly the kind of horror story we have been warning would accompany the push for radical transgender rights in schools, and it is the type of situation that LGBT activists have been insisting would not happen."

[Beth Andrea]

The problem is, apparently there wasn't any "harassment" that went on, other than she was using the lady's room.

[Red Leicester]

I notice that the National Review Online has modified their original article from the link above.  I recognize some names of members here putting up a spirited fight against the ignorant and the bigoted.  The arguments in behalf of the transgender student, in the comments, give me hope that rational people understand the issues.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/361317/girls-allegedly-harassed-transgender-student-bathroom-threatened-hate-crime-charges-if

The same can be said for those brave souls who waded into one of the fundamentalist Christian websites that promoted the same false allegations.

http://www.charismanews.com/us/41346-transgender-boy-harassing-girls-in-the-bathroom-gets-no-punishment

The story at the Daily Mail (link above) has been completely pulled.  When we confront the rational with facts and evidence we win.

[Spinningtop5]

I actually got in contact with the transgender /female/ from this article and she's confirmed my suspicion that this article is a bunch of lies. I'd give more details but I'm trying to respect her privacy

[Jamie D]

Thank you for this report.

[dalebert]

...she's confirmed my suspicion that this article is a bunch of lies.

Well tell her that's a "duh".

[Spinningtop5]

Well tell her that's a "duh".

Will do :p

EDIT: I've been speaking to her and she wants to thank the community for being so supportive

[Bardoux]

Meet The Transgender Teen An Anti-LGBT Group Is Claiming 'Harassed' Her Classmates
Zack Ford, October 21st

TransAdvocate blogger Cristan Williams has been countering PJI's claims, and she was able to make contact with the transgender student and her family.

Williams identifies the student as Jane Doe, though her name has been outed by those attempting to villainize her. She spoke with one of Jane's moms, who provided some new insights into how PJI's drama has unfolded. Jane transitioned about two years ago, and is now "comfortable with life," having previously experienced a lot of harassment when she would still use men's restrooms. Her mom describes her as "shy and timid, "private about everything,"" and also quite afraid of being bullied.

The family only learned about the controversy when the school was bombarded with media requests after some other parents held a poorly attended rally protesting Jane's use of girls' facilities. Jane then found PJI's complaint online, and it caused her anxiety attacks.

Jane is simply trying to live her life and be herself, but PJI seems to want to make her a poster child for the false stereotype that transgender people are inherently predatory.

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/10/21/2811911/transgender-student-harassment-pacific-justice-institute/

[matthewzguitarz]

This whole thing made me sad to be honest. I saw the story on another website, and stupidly commented just to have a bunch of people replying pretty much calling me stupid for trying to nicely explain why I support transgenders, and how I thought people should at least wait before spreading hate for something they don't understand(I see it as hate even though it is probably more of just fear or something).

Anyways I hope everything turns out okay and also hope that people are able to accept transgenders one day.

[Stardiver]

This is from Charisma News, a right-wing fundamentalist Christian website. Also, it mentions the Pacific Justice Institute and that high school in Colorado which makes me think this is the same case as a "Jane Doe" trans girl who was accused of harassing girls in the girls' bathroom by a parent of one of the students at the high school. (There was no actual incident of harassment filed by any of the students.) PJI released a statement running this false accusation as fact, and a bunch of news sources picked it up. When the school officials revealed that the harassment charges were a farce, PJI suddenly changed their tune to say that it was not that Jane Doe was actually harassing the girls, but that the presence of a "boy" in in the girls' bathrooms was "inherently harassing." Jane Doe is now on suicide watch due to harassment by PJI, the right-wing blogosphere, and other transphobes such as Cathy Brennan.

[JillSter]

So when do these people get arrested for harassing her? I see lots of harassment and hate, invasion of privacy, slander, endangering a minor. Serious potential risk to her safety at this point!

When do people start having to pay for all they've put this girl through? I see a whole lotta no justice going on here.

[MadeleineG]

I've been harassed many, many times by boys in the boy's locker room. Maybe boys should be banned from the boy's locker room as well.

Amen to this.

Given the opportunity, I'd have used the girls' facilities just to get away from the creeps in the boys' rooms.

[mac1]

"When your child tells you he is the opposite sex...you tell him very firmly, "NO, you are NOT a girl, and that's the end of that!"

That is what I would have been told if I had dared to tell my parents that I would have liked to be a girl.

Even now, if I could be able to use the women's restroom I would do so peacefully without incident so as not to be challenged.