Unfortunate as it is, homophobia can affect people at any age. In this case, the age is eleven and the victim is Savannah Tirre, a gay middle schooler who was a victim of an assault by classmates after months of homophobic bullying, according to LC Sun News.
The sixth grader has reportedly been a target for bullying since October when she came out as a lesbian. Savannah's mother, Chelsea Tirre, said that the bullying started immediately when her daughter started attending Licacho Middle School, which prompted the family to transfer her to Zia Middle School and despite that, the bullying didn't stop.
In a video posted to Facebook, Savannah is seen being punched at least six times by an unnamed student standing over her before she attempts to kick the assailant away while recess monitors are heard blowing whistles. Tirre told her mother that the other student punched her from behind.
Although the video doesn't show the intent of the attack the comments on it included threats of further violence and referred to Savannah as gay. One example of this is a screenshot of the attacker's Facebook status (the name of the student has been blurred out) that said "This little girl is about to get jumped Monday again so get your phones out." Savannah was referred to as a "little lesbian" as well.
Although her classmates didn't take it very well, when Savannah came out to her family in the summer, they were very accepting of her sexuality. As mentioned above, Savannah was also bullied at a previous school but the bullying was so severe that she was admitted to the hospital because she was experiencing seizures.
Savannah has received a great deal of support from her peers at Zia Middle School which shows that the bullies are simply outliers, but dangerous ones. It is my hope that Savannah doesn't have to be subjected to any further bullying because it truly does take a toll on one's mental health.
h/t: LC Sun News