Another day, another attack on someone who identifies as transgender. This time around, it happened to a high school student, and they along with many others are hopeful that this incident won't happen ever again not only to themselves but for all transgender teens.
Per NBC News, Seven students at a New Jersey high school have been suspended following the assault of a 14-year-old transgender student, according to school officials.
Kylie Perez was attacked last week by another student in a hallway at East Side High School in Newark. School officials said the student who beat Perez and those who recorded it have been suspended and will have disciplinary hearings this week.
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said the incident is being investigated as a possible bias crime, but no charges have been filed so far.
“It just makes me very angry and hurt that my daughter had to experience something like that in this day in age especially” Perez’s mother, Lillian Richards, told NJ.com. Kudos to Lillian being such a supportive mother.
Kylie is turning this tragic incident that she went through into something much greater, as Perez and her mother met Monday with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and school administrators. District officials have planned a series of assemblies about acceptance that will feature Perez as a speaker.
"I'm not going let it fade away," Perez said. "I'm going to make sure that people know that trans lives, every life, matters."
There needs to be much more done in schools to ensure that incidents like this do not happen again. "This type of incident is unacceptable, and we must expand our anti-bullying work in schools," Christian Fuscarino, executive director of Garden State Equality, said in a statement.
Do you think schools are doing enough to ensure that LGBT students feel safe in their environments?