An Oklahoma mother is suing her daughter’s school district after the daughter was beaten up in the girls’ bathroom by a transgender student.
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The suit alleges that the school did not enforce an Oklahoma law that restricts restroom use for transgender individuals. It was filed by Theresa Gooden, who alleged that her 15-year-old daughter — identified as “E.G.” — was “attacked and severely beaten” in the girls’ restroom at Edmond Memorial High School back in October.
Oklahoma law forbids transgender students to use restrooms other than those matching the sex on their birth certificates. Trans students also have the option to use a single-occupancy restroom or changing room.
But per the lawsuit, Edmond Memorial allowed this particular trans student to continue using the women’s bathroom even after Gooden’s daughter told assistant principal Maryjel Cochrane about the individual’s gender identity.
Gooden is seeking a jury trial after the trans student’s physical attack left E.G. with “severe physical and mental injuries, severe physical and mental pain and suffering, and severe emotional distress,” per the suit.
The accused attacker is no longer at the school, Superintendent Angela Grunewald said in a YouTube video, released to the public after an uproar about the alleged attack. She said the transgender student accused of attacking E.G. had only been attending Edmond Memorial “a few days” before the incident.
“We take our policies seriously, and we expect students to follow them,” she said.