Posted on 10/04/2022 7:24:28 AM PDT by Steely Tom
The family of a transgender student in Randolph is reeling from an onslaught of transphobic messages and social media posts fueled by what it says were inaccurate news stories about a locker room incident.
“It’s been an absolute nightmare. Horrifying. My family is in constant pain from the lies and harassment,” said the mother of the 14-year-old student, who attends Randolph Union High School.
Around midday on Monday the mother said she was heading to the school to pick up her daughter early because she “can’t make it through the day at this point.” Get all of VTDigger's daily news.
VTDigger is not naming the student or her mother because the former is a minor who has reported experiencing harassment.
A WCAX story that aired Sept. 28 and featured a student volleyball player objecting to a transgender teammate’s use of a school locker room was picked up by multiple news outlets, including Fox News, the New York Post and the British tabloid Daily Mail.
In an interview with VTDigger, the mother of the transgender student said the WCAX story, which relied on one student’s account, was inaccurate. She contested that student’s claim that her daughter had made an “inappropriate comment” in the locker room.
“Quite the opposite is what happened,” the parent said. “My child was bullied, the school launched an investigation.”
She also disputed the interviewed student’s assertion that other team members objected to her daughter’s presence in the locker room, saying that the team has played and traveled harmoniously together for weeks.
In an email to WCAX, she called the story “inaccurate” and “just altogether ugly.”
Layne Millington, superintendent of the Orange Southwest Supervisory District, confirmed that the school is investigating a complaint under its harassment, hazing and bullying policies but said federal privacy laws prevent him from providing any additional information.
He also pushed back against the WCAX story, which stated that the team was “banned” from the locker room after raising concerns with school administrators.
“The locker rooms were not shut down as a punishment or a consequence,” Millington said. “They were shut down really to kind of ensure student safety while the investigation is conducted, and the shutdown applied equally to all the members of the girls volleyball team.”
Millington further noted that the school has “a high number of both multi stall bathrooms and single occupancy bathrooms… So this claim of inconvenience is minimal at best.”
WCAX news director Roger Garrity told VTDigger in an email Monday that he was “unaware of any factual errors in our reporting.” He added, “I can’t speak to the effects our reporting has had in the community, but I do understand that this is an extremely sensitive topic that can evoke strong emotions.”
A parent of the student quoted in the WCAX story declined to comment.
The story “spread a wildfire of bigotry and hatred and (WCAX) should be held accountable for that,” the transgender student’s mother said. She shared examples of social media messages the family has received from local community members. VTDigger is not publishing them due to their transphobic content.
The mother said she has contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont and GLAAD, an organization that seeks to improve the portrayal of LGBTQ+ people in the media. ‘Coordinated hate’
LGBTQ+ youth in Vermont “experience violence and the constant threat of harm daily,” said Dana Kaplan, executive director of Outright Vermont, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization that supports and provides resources for queer and transgender students and families statewide.
Kaplan pointed to “the burden that people on the margins are facing in a climate where there is a lot of coordinated hate happening.” When a local story receives national attention, there are “networks of hate groups that are ready to just jump in and create hostility and discomfort,” Kaplan noted.
Trans and non-binary youth suffer from extremely high rates of suicide and bullying, and the risk to mental health increases for transgender and non-binary youth of color, according to a 2021 national survey conducted by the Trevor Project, a nonprofit focusing on suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth. GLAAD’s 2021 social media safety index indicates that 64% of LGBTQ+ people face online hate and harassment.
“It is critically important that school districts and leadership do right by all of their students so that everybody has access to a safe and affirming education,” Kaplan said. LGBTQ+ rights
LGBTQ+ student rights are enshrined in Vermont’s Public Accommodations Act. The Vermont Agency of Education requires schools to adopt “a student-centered focus” regarding transgender and gender-nonconforming students. Its guidance around restroom and locker rooms states that “a transgender student should not be required to use a locker room or restroom that conflicts with the student’s gender identity.”
State law also mandates that schools implement harassment, hazing and bullying policies.
“We expect that the school district will take the appropriate steps to address the matter in a way that complies with the law and is right for their community,” said Ted Fisher, a spokesperson for the state Agency of Education.
“Student safety is our district’s highest priority,” said Caty Sutton, co-principal of Randolph Union Middle & High School, which serves 381 students from the towns of Randolph, Braintree and Brookfield.
“Where the policies and expectations are violated, we take disciplinary action consistent with the law and reasonably calculated to prevent further misconduct,” Sutton wrote in an email. “We also do our best to give victims supportive measures.” A snippet from the Agency of Education's "Continuing Best Practices for Schools Regarding Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students" outlining the use of restrooms and locker rooms by transgender students.
Following last week’s news coverage of the situation in Randolph, the Orange Southwest Supervisory District’s website was hacked Saturday and inundated with transphobic hate speech, as VTDigger has reported.
The district launched a forensic investigation of the hack, reported it to law enforcement agencies and disabled the website and associated social media accounts.
According to Millington, the superintendent, the FBI is now investigating the matter.
The parent of the Randolph High student said the incident and sensationalized news coverage of it has “just opened the floodgates and given permission to all the bigots.”
But as her child struggles to return to school after a challenging weekend, the community support from parents, friends and support groups on social media has been incredible, she said. And the family also feels heard and supported by the school district, she said.
“I’ve got the school looking out for truth and safety and we’ve got lots of family and friends. We have our good days and our bad days,” she said. “Some days it feels like if we just stay strong the truth will come out and prevail.”
“One of the nice things about the district is that we’ve got a pretty robust support network. That includes students, staff, quite a number of different counselors specialized in different fields,” Millington said. “There’s a daily check in that goes on to ensure that each day is going smoothly and making sure that if anything else is happening, we're getting wind of it immediately.”
The girls’ volleyball team played a game Friday and Millington said its members “were spot on in terms of their behavior, they were supportive of one another, it was actually good to see.”
Sports and Physical EducationTransgender and gender nonconforming students are to be provided with the same opportunities to participate in physical education as are all other students. Generally, students should be permitted to participate in physical education and sports in accordance with the student's gender identity. Participation in competitive athletic activities and sports will be resolved on a case-by-case basis. Schools should refer to the Vermont Principal's Association Activities/Athletics Policies: Article 1 Section 2.
Restroom and Locker Room Accessibility
The use of restrooms and locker rooms by transgender students requires schools to consider numerous factors, including, but not limited to: the transgender student's preference; protecting student privacy; maximizing social integration of the transgender student; minimizing stigmatization of the student; ensuring equal opportunity to participate; the student's age; and protecting the safety of the students involved.
A transgender student should not be required to use a locker room or restroom that conflicts with the student's gender identity.
Schools may consider including gender neutral restrooms into the design of new construction and/or building renovation.
Gender Segregation in Other Areas
As a general rule, in any other circumstances where students are separated by gender in school activities (i.e. overnight field trips), students should be permitted to participate in accordance with their gender identity. Activities that may involve the need for accommodations to address student privacy concerns will be addressed on a case-by-case basis considering the factors set forth above.
Plank #10 of the Communist Manifesto: Free education for all children in government schools.
https://www.laissez-fairerepublic.com/TenPlanks.html
ch8ild abuse should prompt action in the community
At the end of all the bs the kid is still a guy who wanted to use the girls locker room and the girls objected to it.
Good. They should be alienated. There is zero room for these freaks and the people who support these freaks.
Wildfire? Damn drama queens!
When I hear the word “pain” it instantly make me think lawsuit and or cash settlement.
It is really, about that simple. 👍
Also increased preference by college admissions officials.
Wickedness and snares of thew devil
why does this lunatic birthing person keep referring to her cross dressing Son as her daughter???
your son can NEVER be a girl, he can only dress and act like one.
I’m thinking it’s well past time to have separate small schools in every region who have ‘trans’ kids so they can all go to one school to be with others of their own kind. Psychiatric help can be made available for these kids with gender dysphoria; a well known mental ailment.
It would make the kids in the ‘special’ school feel better and the kids in the regular schools feel a lot better without this mental illness forced on them by the Nazi Marxists of America.
We have special schools for kids with other disabilities. I’d say gender dysphoria falls into a mental disability category.
Time to deal with problem head on with compassion but assertiveness. No more pussy footing around it.
Exactly. XY cannot turn into XX.
First of all, he's not a her. Every other crappy thing happening to them, and the community as a whole, is a direct result of the stupid parents entertaining the kid's delusion that he is.
If this wretched person's son (is the so-called "mother" an actual XX female???) claimed to be a girl, he certainly made an inappropriate comment.
TFB
...she was heading to the school to pick up her daughter
...She contested that student’s claim that her daughter had made an “inappropriate comment” in the locker room
...other team members objected to her daughter’s presence in the locker room
In Boca a few years ago an 18 year old girl died in an outpatient surgery center from an extremely rare adverse reaction to anesthesia. The surgery center had an antidote on hand, but it had exceeded its shelf life, and was ineffective. She died in transit to the nearest hospital. It turns out she was a graduating senior that year at a local high school, and her parents gave her the “gift” of breast implants. Following the usual script, the parents sued. Also following the usual script a settlement was reached, which included a gag order and nothing further appeared in the papers. My conclusion in that instance is that the parents should look in the mirror when seeking to fix responsibility. What parents would pay to enable such a thing?
Likewise - these parents are aiding and abetting the confusion their child feels about their gender identification. And then they have the gall to blame everyone else at the school.
Mom’s on the warpath for her child, the locker room invader. Is there no Dad in the picture?
Oh, family of transgender student, your child is a sicko.
Get them help. Where, I don’t know because psychiatry is presently an even greater collection of sickos.
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