As the parent of a transgender child, I was quite disheartened to read in The Columbian about the bullying incidents of a transgender student at a Vancouver middle school (“VPS responds to allegations of transgender teen bullying,” March 17). Unfortunately, bullying and discrimination are all too common. No child should have to suffer harassment and discrimination.
According to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, out of nearly 28,000 respondents from all 50 states, 77 percent of individuals who were either out or perceived as transgender had experienced some form of bullying or discrimination during their K-12 years.
It is up to all of us as a society to protect this population, and part of the way we can do that is to reject discrimination. Initiative 1552 would harass transgender students by denying them the basic right of using the restroom with which they identify. Denying transgender people this access is akin to denying their existence. Please decline to sign petitions for I-1552.
