School forced to shut down after parents threaten a transgender girl

A middle school in the US state of Oklahoma had to cancel classes and shut down for two days earlier this week following threats that were made to a transgender girl.

This came after a parent, Jamie Crenshaw, complained in a Facebook group for parents at the school in Achille, about the 12-year-old using the girls' bathroom.

In the private group she wrote:

The transgender is already using the girl's bathroom.

We have been told how the school has gone above and beyond to make sure he has his own restroom yet he is still using the girls.

REALLY.... Looks like it’s gonna be a long year.

We have made school board meeting over this situation last year but nothing seems to be changing.

This is the same kid that got in trouble as soon as he transferred two years ago for looking over the stalls in the girl's bathroom.

Enough is enough.

The girl had previously been using the staff bathrooms. But on 8 August, her first day in seventh grade, she found herself in a new building, couldn't find the faculty bathroom and so used the girl's facilities instead.

The child's mother, Brandy Rose, described what happened to the New York Timesand requested that her daughter's identity be kept secret.

Crenshaw's comments and the resulting replies in the group, which is not associated with the school and has since been taken down, were screengrabbed and shared on Facebook.

Some of the comments referred to the girl as a 'thing' and a 'lil half baked maggot,' while others attacked her gender and called for violence.

This has left the girl scared and afraid to sleep alone at night, yet she has vowed that she still wants to attend public school.

Rose told the NYT:

You would expect children to bully other children.

These are adults bullying a child and threatening a child and they’re claiming to be doing it in the name of God.

How in the world is that Christlike?

Rose also claims that Mr. Crenshaw blocked her in the road and 'verbally' herself and her daughter on Friday, and had previously confronted her husband at a father-daughter dance earlier in the year.

She also denied the accusations that her daughter was 'looking over stalls,' adding:

My daughter has to lean very far forward to use the bathroom.

I guess someone saw her leaning forward and it looked as if Maddie was trying to look under the stall.

It is not clear how many of the comments come from actual parents, but Sheriff Johnny Christian of the Bryan County Sheriff's Office has said that the incident will be investigated and is being taken seriously.

Sheriff Christian suggested that Achille Public Schools were shut down on Monday and Tuesday to prevent any further situations developing and protect children against any possible protests.

Superintendent Rick Beene implemented the shut-down at the behest of the police and held a meeting with his staff after being inundated with messages.

In an interview given on Tuesday, Beene said:

What we decided is that we need to be more educated.

Not so much for anything that we did as a staff but for what we didn’t do.

Let’s go back to the basics here — did Jesus want to protect children? Absolutely. 

Beene added that he has hired a hall monitor to prevent any bullying and that, although Mr. Crenshaw is a parent at the school, he does not believe that the other commenters of Facebook were.

The Rose family moved to Oklahoma two years ago from Texas after their children were bullied in a former school.

When they moved to their new home, their daughter had already transitioned to living as a girl but intended to keep the fact she was transgender hidden from public knowledge.

She has since found support from the local community as around two dozen people took part in a silent march in wet weather to show their solidarity.

HT New York Times

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