A transgender high school student in Indiana says she was humiliated, and has even considered transferring schools, after she was misgendered and her “dead name” was included in a list of candidates for Homecoming court.
Grace Grabner, a senior at Carroll High School in Fort Wayne, Ind., has identified as female for the past six years. But last week she was mortified after the district included her birth name on a list of Homecoming King candidates, which was distributed to her classmates, instead of on the list for Homecoming Queen.
“It was embarrassing and it took me back to middle school when that was the hardest time,” Grabner told Fort Wayne ANC affiliate WPTA. “It reminded me of everything that happened in middle school and how people treated me.”
Grabner says she has experienced, and in some instances, continues to experience, bullying and harassment due to her gender identity.
She hopes that Northwest Allen County Schools will take concrete steps to stop harassment and make transgender and gender-nonconforming students feel safer and more accepted.
A spokeswoman for Northwest Allen County Schools said the list of girls’ names and boys’ names were computer-generated based on the official names listed on transcripts.
They argue that because Grabner’s official transcript does not bear a name matching her gender identity she was “inadvertently” placed on the wrong list.
“We made a mistake on our end and we apologize profusely that this error happened where we inadvertently took one student who should have been on one list and put them on the opposite list. That was our responsibility and our fault, and we feel terrible about it,” spokeswoman Lizette Downey said in a statement.
The district released a follow-up statement, saying: “This was not a policy decision, a political statement, or purposeful insensitivity to any person or group, it was an oversight. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and will take steps to prevent similar issues from occurring again in the future.”
U.S. Rep. Becca Balint has introduced a bill to protect and expand access to gender-affirming care for transgender individuals at a time when the Trump administration is seeking to restrict the practice.
The Vermont Democrat's bill -- the Transgender Health Care Access Act -- establishes grants to support medical education programs and professional training in transition-related care, and to expand access to such services in rural communities.
She introduced the bill on March 31, coinciding with Transgender Day of Visibility.
The congresswoman noted in a news release that in a survey of students at 10 medical schools, nearly 4 in 5 students did not feel competent at treating transgender patients suffering from gender dysphoria.
The U.S. Air Force is rescinding a ban on including preferred pronouns in email signatures and other communications. The military branch announced the change in a news release.
The reversal was signed by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Gwendolyn DeFilippi.
The earlier directive, signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was issued on January 31 to comply with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump stating that the United States government will only recognize two sexes -- male and female -- as legitimate.
West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed a bill that effectively erases the existence of transgender people from state law.
Surrounded by anti-trans advocates, Morrisey signed the "Riley Gaines Act" -- named after the former collegiate swimmer-turned-anti-LGBTQ activist -- into law.
The law defines the terms "man" and "woman" based on a person's biological anatomy at the time of birth in the state code.
For all legal purposes, the state will not recognize the gender of any person who identifies outside of the gender binary or identifies as a gender that does not align with their assigned sex at birth.
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