Posted: 9/2/2015 2:59:37 PM EDT
When Caitlyn Jenner took to television in April to announce she was transgender, messages of support poured in from across the country. She was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair and received an ESPY award for courage.
But even as Jenner starred in a reality TV docu-series about her transition, a deeper question remained.
If Jenner weren’t already a rich celebrity, would she have received the same support? How would other, less famous transgender Americans be treated?
On Monday morning, a small town in Missouri provided an answer.
For two hours, approximately 150 students stood in front of Hillsboro High School to protest a transgender teen’s use of the girls’ facilities.
And for those same two hours, the 17-year-old transgender teen huddled inside her counselor’s office — with the door locked.
“I was concerned about my own safety,” Lila Perry told the New York Times.
It’s not just her fellow students that are upset over Perry’s use of the girls’ bathroom and locker room. The issue has roiled this town, thrusting a quaint community of about 3,000 into the national spotlight. Last week, a school board meeting had to be moved after too many people attended to discuss Perry. And on Monday afternoon, the protesting students — who comprised about 13 percent of the school — were joined by angry adults.
“This needs to stop before it goes too far,” Jeff Childs, who has a niece and a nephew in the Hillsboro School System, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He and his 21-year-old son showed up to the school with “Girls Rights Matter” painted on the sides and back of his pickup truck.
“I’m not trying to be ignorant, but [the transgender student] is bringing it out in public for everybody else to deal with,” Childs said. View Quote
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-transgender-teen-used-the-girls%E2%80%99-locker-room-now-her-community-is-up-in-arms/ar-AAdSn1R
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