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Family of transgender student in Randolph faces ‘wildfire of bigotry’ following media coverage of locker room use
VTDigger ^ | 3 October 2022 | Auditi Guha

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.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: geeksandfreaks; lgxyzfresks; lockerrooms; randolph; transgender; violationofprivacy
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To: Steely Tom

Good!

No tranny” should be treated as the opposite sex until and unless they have had the surgery to change that.

People need to use facilities based on how they are actually, physically equipped, not how they claim they “feeeelllll”.


61 posted on 10/04/2022 8:36:06 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith….)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Excellent


62 posted on 10/04/2022 8:36:14 AM PDT by rrrod (6)
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To: Steely Tom
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.

I call BS on that unless they are the ones starting the bullying.

But then, like all bullies, they provoke and then go whining to the authorities as if they are the victim.

63 posted on 10/04/2022 8:38:02 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith….)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear
Where is the downside for him?

Good question, I'd say if he ain't getting a boner in the girls locker room in high school, maybe he really is a mental case and should be mentally evaluated, checked for an anti social personality, is he a murderer in the making or really a Tinkerbell who likes boys?

64 posted on 10/04/2022 8:39:30 AM PDT by Ikeon (My fellow americans would put you in shackles if it meant they could not be bothered for one day. )
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

While the boy may be faking it, gender dysphoria is a real deal. They are mentally ill. Believe me. Some really hate their bodies and many suffer from additional mental disorders.

The main mental health care “professional” organizations believe the only effective treatments for gender dysphoria are affirmation and transition. I won’t say whether this is for the $$$$$ involved or concern for the patients (or both). It is commonly believed transitioning helps prevent the patient from committing suicide, but I don’t know of any other delusions where treatment involves affirming the delusion. Think anorexia for example.

So yeah. The boy is mentally ill.


65 posted on 10/04/2022 8:40:45 AM PDT by CitizenUSA (Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.)
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To: 1Old Pro
Right. I think the ultimate Marxist goal is always blood in the streets.

All they need is a leader.

I just wonder if the Marxists behind this movement considered that the trannies and LGBTQs might panic and try to hide behind mommy's apron when things start to get bloody.

I doubt their mommies will continue to fight their battles after first blood.;-)

66 posted on 10/04/2022 8:42:29 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: CitizenUSA
Some professionals have said (or they used to say) that much, perhaps most, gender dysphoria in children resolves itself if left alone.

The problem at the present time is that it is being pushed on anyone and everyone as a diagnosis for many other adolescent troubles. And after that diagnosis, the treatment being pushed is surgery and hormonal therapy (no disagreements tolerated).

67 posted on 10/04/2022 8:48:14 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: Steely Tom

“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.“

It’s all your fault, mom, for indulging your child’s delusion instead of properly educating them.


68 posted on 10/04/2022 9:22:26 AM PDT by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
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To: Steely Tom

These should all quit the school team and start their own private, hetero team.

The mentally ill young man can be a team of one.


69 posted on 10/04/2022 9:31:05 AM PDT by Tom Tetroxide
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To: Steely Tom

Why not separate schools for wacky trannies and let them compete against themselves?


70 posted on 10/04/2022 9:31:42 AM PDT by kenmcg (t)
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To: RoosterRedux

Body acceptance should be the only treatment for gender dysphoria.

Here’s a link to a site of parents who are dealing with the transgender delusion that is afflicting mostly western countries.

https://pitt.substack.com/

From a citizen perspective, the realization that any contradictory posts or comments regarding LGBT+ on social media will earn one a ban, AND our federal government has picked sides against anything deemed homo- or transphobic means their side has very weak arguments. They can’t beat us in a fair exchange of ideas, so they try to silence us. We must fight this great delusion, as the lives of our children are on the line here.


71 posted on 10/04/2022 9:40:34 AM PDT by CitizenUSA (Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.)
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To: ConservativeInPA

“Good. They should be alienated. There is zero room for these freaks and the people who support these freaks.”

Amen. Keep up and increase the pressure. The parents of this boy should be charged with child abuse.


72 posted on 10/04/2022 9:49:19 AM PDT by EastTexasTraveler
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To: Steely Tom

Sounds like the poor kid needs to be taken away from mommy dearest. Maybe he could recover if he spent a year or two around normal people.


73 posted on 10/04/2022 10:19:06 AM PDT by curious7
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To: CitizenUSA
Body acceptance should be the only treatment for gender dysphoria.

Well, I sort of agree, but have heard many former trannies and honest psychologists/psychiatrists offer a different POV in which they accept what the person is going through but try to get to the bottom of what is going on.

Sometimes what is at first thought to be gender dysphoria is really one or a combination of several other problems/issues.

Case in point, I listen to a former tranny explain that he thought he was gender dysphoric but after a good bit of self-examination came to understand that he was just naturally effeminate and overly sensitive (and that was giving him serious identity problems).

After almost going through surgery, he decided to wait and later his sense of dysphoria eased up and he became quite comfortable being what he described as a sensitive male. This is not unusual.

People in the midst of adolescent angst conclude that they are suffering from all kinds of ailments, but, after they pass out of that period, many of those perceived problems either resolve or become something else altogether. Adolescence can be dangerously confusing for some people and it can be wise to just wait until that period has passed.

74 posted on 10/04/2022 10:19:54 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: Steely Tom

A phobic person. phobic adjective. Relating to a phobia. phobic adjective. Used to describe a political or cultural view opposed to the norm..... as defined by the observer

***************************************************************

Based upon the definition above, and nothing else, I think tens of millions of us are indeed “transphobic”.

We might as well stop letting The Left, and the media, use us for a punching bag on the subject.


75 posted on 10/04/2022 11:02:36 AM PDT by Cen-Tejas
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To: jughandle

Perfectly distilled down and stated.


76 posted on 10/04/2022 11:02:45 AM PDT by Levy78 (Reject modernity, embrace tradition. )
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To: Steely Tom

The kid should be ostracized. It is how civilization and civil society maintains itself. He is NOT normal. And being a transgender is NOT healthy.


77 posted on 10/04/2022 11:54:37 AM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes.)
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To: jughandle
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.

Within 10 years, you could be hunted down and shot on sight for saying this. Maybe sooner at the rate we're going.

78 posted on 10/04/2022 1:00:09 PM PDT by madprof98
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To: Steely Tom

The tranny kid’s mom is straight out lying, or she is so f**ked up as a parent, she believes her mentally ill son’s lies.


79 posted on 10/04/2022 4:51:20 PM PDT by NetAddicted (Just looking)
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To: Wally_Kalbacken

The girl died while in operation for breast implants? I’ve checked out breast implants carefully, and they look like implants (fake), when viewed au naturale. I believe that is why homosexuals are strongly supporting girls to amputate their breasts.


80 posted on 10/04/2022 5:00:34 PM PDT by NetAddicted (Just looking)
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