Trans Student Suspended from Same School That Canceled Prom, Later Hounded Out ofTown

[MarieDelta]

This is the latest news on Juin

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/03/24/itawamba-agricultural-high-school-suspended-a-transgendered-student-back-in-january

Things reached a crisis stage over the weekend when the friends-of-friends who had been putting up Bertsinger and her three children told her that Juin would have to leave. Bertsinger called some old friends who live in Pensacola, Florida, and asked if they would take Juin in. Her friends drove to Fulton the same night to pick Juin up. Bertsinger is granting temporary guardianship of her son to her friends until, she says, she can find a job and save enough money to move to Florida with her other two children.

The ACLU won't be pursuing Juin's case.

“Juin not being in Fulton makes it difficult for us to pursue any kind of legal action here,” says Bennett. "And personally, I feel it may be a better decision for Juin to relocate and move on with his life.”

Juin Baize agrees.

“There’s this thing here called Florida Virtual School,” Juin told me today, “and I’m going to enroll in that online and do that until next year. And from what I’ve heard the high school near here is very accepting. So I’m going to start fresh."

“I’m in a much better place now."

[Long Duck Dong]

thanks for posting that marie...

I was concerned for the safety of juin after the ruling of the court case and while the two may not be connected.... its pretty much safe to assume that the friends are concerned for their safety and and well beingin that town now, and possibly for juins and his family too...

in light of sentiment that would be most likely in that town now, I would say the best thing juin can do, is leave town....

I wish juin, its family and the friends that would housing them all the best of luck.....

I hope that constance is also safe and well and not facing the sort of trouble

[TwylaTwobits]

This is sad but it goes back to the consequences I was mentioning in the other thread. Small towns have a way of making their displeasure known in ways that directly impact the life of the family involved. It's not illegal, it's not actionable, but it doesn't make it right. Just small town. I hope that Juin eventually finds his way to college. He seems like a very intelligent young man. I also hope that there has been no consequences for Constance and her family.

All we can do is continue to send healing energy to that town so that all the people who were affected by this situation begin to heal and move past it.

[transcendMental]

thanks for posting that marie...

I was concerned for the safety of juin after the ruling of the court case and while the two may not be connected.... its pretty much safe to assume that the friends are concerned for their safety and and well beingin that town now, and possibly for juins and his family too...

in light of sentiment that would be most likely in that town now, I would say the best thing juin can do, is leave town....

I wish juin, its family and the friends that would housing them all the best of luck.....

I hope that constance is also safe and well and not facing the sort of trouble

ITS??

I get that it can be challenging to find appropriate pronouns to use regarding the gender variant, but calling a person "it" robs them of their personhood, and turns them into an object. Use he/she at the very least!

I would be offended, except that I truly believe that LDD is not actually transphobic, and is well-intentioned. But it did set me off, and I had to say something.

[FalconAngel]

The sad part is that the kid has had to go from a bottom 20 school system, to a bottom 4 school system.

Because of his situation as a transgender teen, he can't even get a decent education.

That is, by far, the worst part of this case.

[MarieDelta]

Here is my take on this situation.

I am sorry Juin was forced to move, however I am glad that his mother is supporting him.

I have said before that many transgender tens who feel the same way as Juin often end up running away from home to someplace else. In these places they often find that they have to trade sex for survival. Many times they end up with HIV due to sharing hormone syringes.

Juin is safe someplace. He has family that loves HIM as he is.

What do you think his odds of getting $30K from Ellen D are?

[Long Duck Dong]

ITS??

I get that it can be challenging to find appropriate pronouns to use regarding the gender variant, but calling a person "it" robs them of their personhood, and turns them into an object. Use he/she at the very least!

I would be offended, except that I truly believe that LDD is not actually transphobic, and is well-intentioned. But it did set me off, and I had to say something.

oh crap,... it should have * their * thats what I get for talking on the phone while posting, and not proof reading as there are other errors in the grammar of that post
in the words of homer simpson " D'OH "

[Cherokee_Mountaincat]

LOL Dan is Such a fucktard, but in his own way. He's an equal opportunity bigot. :rolleyes: He complains about Everybody, but he'll be the first to put his hand in his pocket to help someone, I know this for a fact.

I feel for the young man in question, but Mom should have known Damn well that Miss ISNT the place to raise a Transgendered child. The old predjudices havent left, and open minds havent quite reached this day and age yet. I know..I was partly raised in that state. And this may sound mean, but sheltering him isnt going to help him any. He's going to have to learn to stand up for himself one of these days, and not letting him do it on his own isnt helping him any. If one of them bullies got their asses whupped one time by a so called "Sissy-boy" , people wouldnt be as likely to go after him again. ;)
I wish them luck, and hope that they can find a place that is open and accepting...for all of them :}
Cat

[FalconAngel]

LOL Dan is Such a fucktard, but in his own way. He's an equal opportunity bigot. :rolleyes: He complains about Everybody, but he'll be the first to put his hand in his pocket to help someone, I know this for a fact.

I feel for the young man in question, but Mom should have known Damn well that Miss ISNT the place to raise a Transgendered child. The old predjudices havent left, and open minds havent quite reached this day and age yet. I know..I was partly raised in that state. And this may sound mean, but sheltering him isnt going to help him any. He's going to have to learn to stand up for himself one of these days, and not letting him do it on his own isnt helping him any. If one of them bullies got their asses whupped one time by a so called "Sissy-boy" , people wouldnt be as likely to go after him again. ;)
I wish them luck, and hope that they can find a place that is open and accepting...for all of them :}
Cat

Cat,

Pensacola is in the northern part of Florida's bible belt, so I don't see his treatment by the locals improving much, if any.

One of my friends has a place up in that area and the only thing that you can get on the radio is talk radio, country music and the bible stations.

But, let's hope that things improve for Juin. That kid has been through enough crap from the bigots in Mississippi.

[MarieDelta]

Well I think that I read somewhere (I cant find it at the moment - I think it was Kim Pearson of TYFA (http://www.imatyfa.org/)) that there were allies in Pensacola.


Yes, Juin should learn to defend himself. But it shouldn't be because he feels threatened at school. The professionals (teachers and admin) should not put up with bullying of any sort.

TYFA - Trans Youth, Families and Allies, does really good work educating people about transgendered youth. As well as providing support for children and parents dealing with transgender issues.


OUR MISSION
TYFA empowers children and families by partnering with educators, service providers and communities, to develop supportive environments in which gender may be expressed and respected.

OUR VISION
We work to create a society free of suicide and violence in which ALL children are respected and celebrated. Specifically, TransYouth Family Allies will work to:

* Educate and inform schools, healthcare professionals, daycare centers, courts and legal representatives, child welfare agencies and communities about discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression.
* Eliminate harassment, oppression, and violence motivated by ignorance, fear, and hatred of transgender children and youth.
* Work to inform citizens, including legislators about advances in medical science and current standards of care with regard to the legal status of transgendered and gender variant children.
* Work to form alliances with organizations and individuals to help achieve support services for the transgender and gender variant children of America, so that they and their families may find the services and support that they need to live their lives free of harassment and obstruction.

Our Guiding Principles
In carrying out its mission, TransYouth Family Allies is guided by the following principles:

* All children, regardless of individual socioeconomic conditions, age, color, creed, disability, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, family status or military status should have an opportunity to be represented by our organization.
* The interests and concerns of all transgender and gender variant children are valuable and should be heard and fairly represented. This includes all classes, subgroups, and minorities.
* Mutual benefit can be achieved by working with other organizations in the pursuit of civil and human rights for transgender and gender variant children.

“The rights of every person are diminished when the rights of one are threatened.
–John F. Kennedy