Transgender teens all over the country are being harassed everyday, and it’s because of some media making everything they do based on them because they are trans. It’s not because of the fact that they are trans, it’s because they have been messed up and hurt by the people around them which can cause some massive issues in anyone, whether they are trans or not.
A trans non-binary teen named Nex Benedict was assaulted in their school bathroom on February 7, 2024, having their head repeatedly slammed across the floor causing them to go unconscious. They had been heavily bullied and it finally got to a point of them getting jumped, which not a single teacher reported. They were sent back
to class after being found, later taken to the hospital after school by their parents where they passed away the next day. This was mainly because of the bullying that stemmed from them being trans. “We continue to see a horrifying amount of violence against our community, and our community’s youth seem to be bearing the brunt of it all,” Tori Jones, a Human Rights Campaign Director, stated about the situation.
This is going farther than just kids getting bullied. A school shooter, who was presumed trans, was blamed for their choice to put their and other people’s lives at risk and killing people because they were trans. This shook through the LGBTQ+ community, more people going against them even though it was never completely proven the shooter was in fact transgender. Grayson Collins, a trans man with a wife and a child stated, “It’s evil, I couldn’t care less who they are or what they are. You still took someone’s life and that’s horrible.” Showing it shouldn’t matter who they are or where, just their actions. You shouldn’t make their horrible action based because “they were trans.” It is not a basis or excuse to use. “This isn’t a trans issue, this is a gun issue, but they’re gonna make it a trans issue,” Mykul Coscia, a drag king, stated about the information of the shooting.
Both of these events have affected the trans community in almost unrecoverable ways. This has made many semi-supporters change their minds on supporting trans kids, because of what the media is spreading about trans kids; places like clubs in schools and safe spaces are necessary for that reason. They are having hard times at places like school, and just because of the media spreading lies about trans people, people won’t help them.
This affects someone in many, many horrible ways. How would you imagine being bullied to the point of getting beat unconscious in a bathroom just because you were being you? No one should have to experience that, no matter who you are. We need some reform in this country, to allow people to be who they are as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone or themselves. It’s not your choice what others do, as long as it isn’t hurting you. We need to work on ourselves to allow change and become more open to allowing people to be who they are to really get some change in this country.
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