a transgender 8-year-old sues a private school, saying it didn\'t let her be the girl she is
by:MX machinery 2019-08-30
Nicole Blal wants you to know her name and she should get better. Transgender people 8-year- The old girl and her parents sued her former private school in Orange County, accusing her of preventing her from expressing her gender identity. She chose not to be a Jane Doe. As a young plaintiff, she can remain anonymous. According to her lawyer, because she strongly believes that \"She struggles on behalf of her right to receive education without discrimination \". Her mother Priya Shah said the family had thought for a long time before the lawsuit was filed. \"This is fulfilling our children\'s commitment to being themselves in adversity,\" she said in an email . \". \"This is our small contribution to ensuring that other transgender and gender-inflated children do not experience the same difficulties and trauma. \"A lawsuit filed last week in the Orange County High Court claimed that the traditional oak private education of Yorba Linda would not allow Nicole, who Nikki went to, to dress as much as she wanted, to use the bathroom of her choice, with a female pronoun. The complaint submitted that the school violated California\'s law prohibiting widespread discrimination, including gender or sexual orientation, the United Nations Civil Rights Act, which fraudulently promoted itself as non-discriminatory, and focus on the whole child \". \"This is the first one. Rights Across Gender Case of using state reversal The discrimination law is one of the reasons for relief, \"said Mark Rosenbaum, who guided the free public lawyer opportunity under the law, which brought a lawsuit with several law school professors. \"Given that the Trump administration does not act against discrimination against transgender people . . . . . . This is a very important case. \"Asaf Orr, a lawyer at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who was not involved in the case, said that he believed the argument was reasonable. \"Hopefully this will lead to a broader conversation about what schools need to do to serve transgender students,\" he said . \". \"They have to create a safe and supportive private school environment for all students. The lawsuit named Heritage Oak and its executive director, Phyllis Cygan, and the Nobel Learning Community, the parent company of the school, Heritage Oak, which is based in Pennsylvania and whose regional director, Kate Taylor. Cygan did not respond directly to requests for comment. But Kerry Owens, vice president of an advertising company called MGH, forwarded a statement saying the Nobel school had met the needs of senior transgender students. The statement shows that Nicole\'s situation is different. \"We believe that it is extremely important to decide when and how to inform and educate students in our entire primary school community, not in a hurry, but in a thoughtful way, staff and parents about mid- \"The annual change in gender identity expression for young children,\" the statement continued . \". \"Due to the sensitivity of the problem and the age of the child, we think we need expert guidance on time ( For example, prepare the children for changes in the spring semester of the second grade and the fall semester of the third grade) Process and age Communicate properly. \"The school has hired an external consultant and has been communicating with family members to discuss accommodation,\" the statement said. \"Unfortunately, these accommodations were rejected and the parents withdrew their children. Nikki\'s lawyer Rosenbaum rejected the view that the problem was due to improper communication or accelerated action. He said the school \"set up roadblocks and ultimately refused to meet the undisputed needs of a young transgender student under their care. ”The 76- Page complaint depicts an intimate portrait of Nikki\'s family and school life. Nikki was designated male at birth with different names. But when she was a child, she liked the pink and rainbow-colored ponies. She walked in her mother\'s high heels and asked for nail polish on her toes. She would wrap herself in her grandmother\'s scarf and put it on like a skirt. At the age of four, she told her parents that she wanted to be a girl. They told Nikki that gender is a range, and like hot and cold water, she can be a boy of any kind she wants to be. But just in June 2016, when she was seven, Nikki said, \"I want to be called a girl. Her parents took her to a therapist who had sex with her. Soon after, they began to let her wear the girl\'s clothes. Only then will she ask her parents to take pictures of her. She said she felt free and the boy\'s clothes \"felt like a prison\" to her \". Nikki\'s parents decided to send her to a traditional oak, in part because it promoted itself as a non-discriminatory community that values diversity and focuses on the individual needs of children. \"School teaches third \"We think the Grade 2 classes will keep our children challenged and engaged,\" Shah said . \". \"We envision our children growing up both intellectually and socially. At the beginning of the school year, Nikki was transitioning but was still shown at school as a boy. \"We are very careful not to rush to make a judgment,\" Shah said . \". But before she arrived at Heritage Oak, her parents told the school\'s executive director what had happened and asked Nikki to be treated as a girl if that was what she ultimately wanted. According to the complaint, Cygan postponed a decision. Spokesperson Manny Rivera said that by November, Nikki\'s parents realized that Nikki would make a full transition to society. Once again they asked the school to accept her choice: let her use the pronoun of her choice, wear a girl\'s uniform, and go to the girl\'s bathroom -- It\'s either that school year or the next school year. Cygan allegedly did not answer their request, only to say that she would allow Nikki to have long hair. By the winter vacation of December, the transformation of Nikki has solidified. In January, the school insisted that Nikki wear the boy\'s uniform. The school said she could use the staff bathroom, but she could not go to the bathroom used by her female classmates. The complaint said Cygan rejected their other demands, calling the school a \"conservative institution\" and that Nikki\'s transition would \"create an imbalance \". According to the complaint, the school ignored Nikki\'s gender preferences, which gave power to her peers -- Including Cygan\'s son. Bully her and call her a loser So, the complaint says Nikki feels distressed and isolated. The girl does not want to play with her because she is wearing the boy\'s clothes and is away from the boy and their more rough activities. She sat and read alone during the break. \"All children in the school have a name that they identify with, and a uniform and bathroom that meets their gender identity,\" the complaint said . \". \"That\'s not the case for Nikki. According to the lawsuit, one day Nikki heard a report on suicide on the radio. She asked her parents if they could commit suicide because \"life is really hard. Nikki left her school in February 2017 and her mother left a teaching job in order to get homeschool her. Rosenbaum said Nikki used the lawsuit not only to assert her rights, but also to overcome the feeling of being disrespectful and singled out. The complaint seeks compensation for emotional distress and discrimination, as well as for tuition and fees over $10,000. It also asked the school to declare that it violated the national non-discrimination law and to promote it in a fraudulent manner. It also asked Oak to develop a policy of non-discrimination against transgender students, train employees under that policy and incorporate courses on transgender identity into its curriculum. This year, Nikki will get a new start at public schools in Orange County. ------------ Filed. 8, 2:05 p. m. : An earlier version of the article says Nikki Bral has made a complete transition by November 2016. By December 2016, her social transformation had been consolidated. Also, the article says she left school in November 2016. She left February 2017. 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